Chapter 28 - Exeter (continued - Ecclesiastical History) from History of Rockingham County, NH From: Betsy Webber - betsy@megalink.net Source: History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and Representative Citizens by Charles A. Hazlett, Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, Ill., 1915 Page 376 CHAPTER XXVIII EXETER--(Continued) ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY First Congregational Church. -- The little colony which accompanied or followed John Wheelwright to the Falls of Squamscott in 1638, was essen- tially a religious one. It was composed in great part of those who had been members of his flock in England, and of those who had suffered for adhering to his theological opinions in Massachusetts. It is not strange, therefore, that a church was gathered within a few months after their arrival here. From the records of the church at Boston we learn that on the 30th of December, 1638, "dismission was granted to our brethren, Mr. John Wheel- wright, Richard Morris, Richard Bulgar, Philemon Pormont, Christopher Marshall, Isaac Grosse, George Wayte, Thomas Wardhall, and William Ward- hall unto the church at the Falls of Pascataquack, if they be rightly gathered and ordered." It is probable that they all became members of the first church of Exeter, and that an equal or larger number of Wheelwright's former English parishioners were also connected with it. Of the thirty-four persons who signed the "combination" with Wheel- wright in 1639, we know from the preamble of the instrument itself that a part were brethren of the church, and the others inhabitants simply. It has been stated, upon what authority we know not, that the church was formed of eight members, comprising Wheelwright and those who, as his adherents, had been dismissed from the church in Boston; but this is apparently erron- eous. As no records are in existence to afford the information, the number of those who composed the original church can probably never be ascertained, but there is reason to believe that among them were at least one-half of the signers of the combination. It is evident from the terms of the mode of government adopted by the settlers, and from their laws and ordinances, that the religious element was the controlling one in their little community. Mr. Wheelwright remained in Exeter, as is supposed, until 1643, when all the settlements in New Hampshire having passed under the authority of Massachusetts, from which colony he had been banished, he removed with a few connections and intimate friends to Wells in Maine. It is probable that he did this from an apprehension that he might be subjected to further annoy- ance if he continued within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, without having made his peace with the authorities of that colony. There is some reason to believe that Mr. Wheelwright's removal was not expected to be permanent. There are votes upon the town records which indicate that the inhabitants understood that he might return to Exeter. And before he had been very long Page 377 at Wells, too, he took the first steps towards a reconciliation with the authorities of Massachusetts, which resulted in the reversal of the banish- ment against him. When it became evident that Mr. Wheelwright was not to return, the people of Exeter made an attempt to call the aged Stephen Bachiler, who had been dismissed from Hampton for irregular conduct, to become their minister. This failed as did the settlements of several other ministers. But the wishes of the people were at length gratified; for a town- meeting on the 30th of May, 1650, it was unanimously agreed between Rev. Samuel Dudley and the town of Exeter "that Mr. Dudley is forthwith, as soon as comfortable subsistence can be made by the town for him and his family in the house which was purchased of Mr. Wheelwright, that then the said Mr. Dudley is to come and inhabit Exeter, and to be a minister of God's word unto us until such time as God shall be pleased to make way for the gathering of a church, and then to be ordained our pastor or teacher accord- ing to the ordinance of God." The town agreed to fit up the Wheelwright house, and to fence in a yard and garden, and to allow forty pounds a year towards the maintenance of Mr. Dudley and his family, with the use and sole improvement of the house and lands and meadow bought by Mr. Wheel- wright, during the time he, Mr. Dudley, should continue to be their minister. The town also agreed that "what cost Mr. Dudley should bestow about the said house and lands in the time of his improvement, the town is to allow unto him or his so much as the said house and lands are bettered by it at the time of the said Mr. Dudley's leaving it, either by death or some more than ordinary call of God other ways." And it was further stipulated "that the old cow-house which was Mr. Wheelwright's shall by the town be fitted up fit for the setting of cattle in, and that the aforesaid pay of forty pounds a year is to be made in good pay every half year in corn and English com- modities at a price current as they go generally in the country at the time or times of payment." The agreement with Mr. Dudley took effect immediately, and he undoubtedly entered upon the discharge of his ministerial functions at once. Indeed, there is reason to believe that he had been serving the town in the same capacity before that time. We learn, moreover, from the agree- ment that the church that had been gathered and maintained during Mr. Wheelwright's stay in Exeter had failed to preserve its organization for the seven years when it was without a pastor. At a town-meeting on the 26th of June, 1650, it was voted to pay Francis Swaine twenty shillings "for his pains and time in going into the bay to col- lect Mr. Dudley his pay." This refers, no doubt, to the "English commo- dities" which the town were to furnish Mr. Dudley in part payment of his salary. There was little money in the frontier settlement, and some merchant in the bay (Massachusetts) was contracted with to supply the imported goods for Mr. Dudley, and to receive in exchange from his Exeter parishioners lumber and such other articles as they could furnish. At the same town- meeting it was resolved "that a meeting-house shall be built, of twenty foot square, as soon as workmen can conveniently be procured to do it, and the place appointed for it is at the corner of William Taylor's lot next the street, Page 378 and William Taylor is to have of the town twenty shillings for five rods square of his land in that place." The people of Exeter having engaged the services of Mr. Dudley, took prompt and efficient measures to procure the payment of his stipulated salary. The town records inform us that at a meeting on the 5th of December 1650 it was agreed upon that the townsmen (who performed substantially the duties of selectmen) shall have power to make a rate upon all such of the inhabitants of the town as do not voluntarily bring in according to their abilities, for the satisfying of the town's engagement unto Mr. Dudley for his maintenance." It had previously been determined that every inhabitant of the town should pay, "for every thousand of pipe-staves they made, two shillings, which should be for the maintenance of the ministry; and for every thousand of hogshead-staves, one and sixpence; and for every thousand of bolts that is sold before they be made into staves, four shillings; and also what is due from the saw-mills shall be for the maintenance of the ministry." And in order to establish the priority of this claim above all others, it was provided that "any man that shall deliver any staves or bolts before they have satisfied the town order shall pay ten shillings for every thousand staves and twenty shil- lings for every thousand bolts." It was also voted at said meeting on the 5th of December, 1650, that if Francis Swaine and Henry Roby, or either of them, shall make a bargain with any able merchant of the bay to pay or cause to paid unto Mr. Dudley the sum of forty pounds in good English commodities in May next, for his whole year's maintenance, and to accept of hogshead- staves or pipe-staves for the said forty pounds worth of goods, then the town do agree to stand to their bargain which they shall make, and to bring in their proportional parts of hogshead-staves or pipe-staves unto the said Henry Roby or Francis Swaine to satisfy their agreement." While the inhabitants were thus solicitous to secure their minister from want, they were no less ready to protect him from defamation. They author- ized the three townsmen-Henry Roby, Thomas King, and John Legat- "to vindicate the credit and reputation of Mr. Dudley gainst the reproachful speeches and calumniations of John Garland, by proceeding against him in law, according to the demerits of his offence." It is not known that any suit was ever brought against the slanderer; he probably found means by apology, or otherwise, to avoid such a result. Apparently nothing was done under the vote to build a meeting-house, passed June 26, 1650, for a couple of years after. At a subsequent meeting, July 8, 1652, "it was ordered that a meeting-house shall forthwith be built, and that every man, both servants as well as others, shall come forth to work upon it as they are called out by the surveyor of the work, upon the penalty of five shillings for every day's neglect; and teams are to be brought forth to the work by the owners as they are called for by the said surveyors upon the penalty of ten shillings a day for their neglect, and the surveyors or overseers appointed for the said work are Mr. Edward Gilman, Thomas King, and Edward Hilton, Jr., and they are to see the work finished and not to have it neglected." Undoubtedly the people were moved to commence and carry through the enterprise soon after; for a vote of the town in November, 1652, alludes to the "finishing" of the building; and the return of a board Page 381 of commissioners to layout the west part of Hampton, in August, 1653, mentions the "Exeter meeting-house," which would imply that it was then completed. Where Mr. Dudley's congregation worshiped in the mean time, whether in the primitive structure that is understood to have been erected in Mr. Wheel- wright's ministry or elsewhere, we have no means of knowledge, nor is it certainly known where this church was located; but there is reason to believe that it was not far from the site which tradition assigns to the earlier build- ing. It continued to be used as the place for public worship for more than forty years. In 1664 a lean-to with a chimney was added to the meeting- house, to serve as a watch-house. Some time after this, probably, Edward Smith, Biley Dudley, Edward Gilman, and perhaps others built a gallery in the house, which was confirmed to them by a vote of the town in 1678; and at the same time said Smith, Gilman, Jonathan Thing, Peter Folsom, Nathaniel Lad, and Moses Levit were allowed to build a gallery for their wives at the end of the men's gallery, leaving room for still another, if desired, which Mrs. Sarah Wadley, Sarah Young, Alice Gilman, Abigail Wadley, Ephraim Marden's wife, Grace Gilman, and Mary Lawrence had leave to erect and set up at the north end of the house. It would appear that within a few years after Mr. Dudley's settlement the town had lost some inhabitants, perhaps persons of means, so that they were unable to continue his salary; and as he "was not willing to urge that from them which they could not comfortably discharge," it was agreed between them, on the 13th of June, 1655, that "the contract made at the time of his settlement should be annulled, that he should lay down his minister- character, and that his future exercises on the Sabbath-day should be done as a private person, he intending and promising to be helpful, what so may with convenience, either in his own house or some other which shall be appointed for the Sabbath exercises." The next year the Town of Portsmouth, understanding, probably, that Mr. Dudley was relieved of his Exeter charge, passed a vote to invite him to remove thither and become their minister, and the selectmen of that town were authorized to communicate the vote and make a contract with him. He received the proposition favorably, and agreed to visit Portsmouth the next spring. The danger of losing their minister seems to have aroused the inhabitants of Exeter to new efforts, for at "a full town-meeting" on the 8th of June, 1657, "it was ordained and agreed that so long as Mr. Samuel Dudley shall continue to be a minister in the town of Exeter, which shall be till there be some just cause for him to remove, whereof he is not to be judge himself, but other indifferent, understanding men,-- the fewness of the people, or greater maintenance to be a cause are expected.-- the town of Exeter is to pay the said Samuel the sum of fifty pounds yearly in merchantable pine boards and merchantable pipe staves, both to be delivered at the water-side, at the Town of Exeter, at the current price as they shall go at when they are delivered." The residue, in case full compensation was not thus made, was to be taken in corn, and the payments were to be in equal installments on the 29th of September and the 24th of June in each year. The Wheelwright Page 382 property was also fully confirmed to Mr. Dudley, and it was provided that the selectmen of the town should yearly "gather up" the said sum of fifty pounds, and in case they should fail to do so, they should be answerable to the town for their default, and make up out of their own pockets whatever they failed to collect! It is somewhat doubtful if the selectmen of our day would be willing to accept such a liability; and perhaps it was only the fear of being deprived of their minister which reconciled them to the condition two centuries ago. This action on the part of the town had the desired effect of inducing Mr. Dudley to abandon all thoughts of removing to Portsmouth, and to retain him to pursue his useful labors in Exeter. Mr. Dudley being an excellent man of business, and holding the pen of a ready writer, was frequently employed by his parishioners in secular affairs. At a meeting of the town on the 4th of March, 1658, a grant of certain land was made to him in consideration of his drawing off from the town book all the former grants and necessary orders in relation thereto, which it was stipulated were to be "fairly written." It was also provided, singularly enough, that if he should find recorded any grant or order to hinder this grant of land to himself, the latter should be void, which is evidence of the entire confidence reposed by the people in his integrity. In 1660 something was needed to be done to the house of worship, either by way of addition or repairs, as the selectmen were authorized, in case they should be "forced to layout of their own estates towards the fitting up of the meeting-house," to make a rate to reimburse themselves. This was a great advance on the earlier rule, which apparently required the selectmen to make good any deficiency in the minister's salary; and subsequent votes of the town, as will be seen, still further relieved them from responsibility in parochial affairs. At a town-meeting on the 15th of March, 1668, it was ordered that Lieutenant Hall be empowered to "arrest and sue any that belong to the town that refuse to pay to the rate of the ministry." And in 1671 it was agreed that the selectmen should be exonerated from the duty of collecting the minister-rate, and that thenceforth Mr. Dudley was to "gather up his rate himself," in consideration whereof he was to receive sixty pounds, instead of fifty pounds, yearly. The selectmen were to assess the tax, and in case any inhabitant should refuse to pay, they were to empower Mr. Dudley to "get it by the constable." Either this method of obtaining his salary was impracticable or unsatis- factory to Mr. Dudley, or the infirmities of age soon compelled him to with- draw from his charge; for it was but five years later that the place of worship in Exeter appears to have been strangely neglected, if we may give full credit to the allegations of the record of a court held at Hampton in May, 1676, which was as follows: "The town of Exeter being presented for letting their meeting-house lie open and common for cattle to go into, this Court doth order that the selectmen of Exeter do take effectual care that the said house be cleaned, and be made clean enough for christians to meet in, and the doors hung and kept shut; and this to be done and signified to Mr. Dalton, under the hand of the constable, by the next Sabbath day, come se'ennight, or else Page 383 to forfeit five pounds; that for the time to come they should keep the said house commodiously tight and suitable for such a place, upon the like penalty." Mr. Dudley died in 1683, at the age of seventy-seven years, the last thirty- five of which he passed in Exeter; and was buried, it is believed, in the old graveyard near the present gas-works. He was connected by blood and mar- riage with some of the principal men of Massachusetts, and the people of Exeter were fortunate, in every respect, in having him to settle among them. He was able to allay all jealous feelings on the part of Massachusetts towards Exeter by his acquaintance with the dignitaries of that colony, and he was unquestionably a diligent and faithful spiritual teacher and guide. For some years after Mr. Dudley's decease there was no settled or regular minister in Exeter, but it is probable that religious worship was con- ducted by such clergymen as might be temporarily engaged. In 1683, Rev. John Cotton, before and afterwards of Hampton, is mentioned in a con- temporary account as of Exeter, so it is probable that he ministered here for a time. Elder William Wentworth certainly officiated here before October, 1690, as the town then voted to treat with him "for his continuance with them in the ministry." Mr. Wentworth remained in the office of minister in Exeter until some time in 1693, when the growing infirmities of years must have disqualified him for the work. The course adopted by the town in selecting his successor strikingly illus- trates the simple fashions of the time, and the general concern felt throughout the community in relation to the spiritual concerns of even a remote and feeble settlement. On the 23d of June, 1693, Capt. John Gilman and Biley Dudley were chosen "in behalf of the town to go to the neighboring ministers and take their advice for a meet person to supply the office of the ministry in the Town of Exeter." The search seems to have been successful, for only three months afterward a committee was raised to treat with Rev. John Clark, and on the l0th of October, in the same year, Capt. John Gilman, Capt. Peter Coffin, and Capt. Robert Wadleigh were empowered to agree with Mr. Clark to become the minister of Exeter, and to fix his salary for the first half-year, the town engaging to pay the same. But Mr. Clark was not to be secured at once. It is not known why he did not remove sooner to Exeter, but it may be conjectured that he required, not unreasonably, that the inhabitants should first prove their disposition and ability to sustain a religious society by erecting a suitable house of worship. However that might have been, in January, 1695, at two meetings of the town, the subject of building a new meeting-house was discussed, and at length determined; and "the major part of the town saw cause to erect and set the house on the hill between the great fort and Nat Folsom's barn." But the location of a public building is never an easy matter for a town to agree upon, and a controversy afterwards arose in regard to it, which was only settled at last by a committee chosen for the purpose. Captain Coffin was employed to keep the account of the work done by the inhabitants upon the house, and the rate allowed was three shillings a day for men, and for lads what the committee should order. The location decided upon was just in front of the site of the present lower (First Congregational) church, and there the meeting-house, evidently Page 384 of no mean proportions, was placed, being completed about the beginning of the year 1697. It had doors at the east and west ends, the pulpit on the north side, and stairs leading to a women's gallery on the south side. Pews were built round the sides, and the middle space was probably occupied with benches. At a town-meeting on the 3d of February, 1697, it was voted "that the new meeting-house should be seated by the committee now chosen, viz., Captain Moore, Mr. Smart, Biley Dudley, Captain Hall, Lieutenant Leavitt, and Mr. Moses Leavitt; and the committee have full power to seat the people in their places and power to grant places for pews to whom they see meet; and those men that have places for pews shall sit in them with their families, and not be seated nowhere else." It is probable that Mr. Clark preached for a time in Exeter before his ordination, which was fixed to be on the 21st of September, 1698. The 7th of September was ordered to be observed as a day of humiliation. On the Sunday preceding the ordination a confession of faith and covenant, which had been previously agreed upon, were signed by the following-named persons, who were the first members of the first church in Exeter, the organization of which has ever since been maintained: John Clark (pastor), John Gilman, Peter Coffin, William Moore, Thomas Wiggin, Kinsley Hall, Theophilus Dudley, Samuel Leavitt, Biley Dudley, Moses Leavitt, John Folsom, Henry Wadleigh, Jonathan Robinson, Thomas Dudley, John Schrivener, Nicholas Gilman, Richard Glidden, Elizabeth Gilman, Elizabeth Clark, Judith Wilson, Margaret Real, Sarah Dudley, Deborah Sinkler, Deborah Coffin, Sarah Lowell, Mehitabel Smith. The church having been organized on the day appointed, the ordination exercises were performed by Rev. Mr. Hale, who preached the sermon, Rev. Mr. Pike, who made the prayer before imposition of hands, Rev. Mr. Wood- bridge, who gave the charge, and Rev. Mr. Cotton, who gave the right hand of fellowship. Mr. Clark received at first sixty pounds a year for his salary, with the use of the parsonage lot and a certain meadow, to which ten pounds more were afterwards added to cover the expense of firewood and fencing of the lands. It was also agreed that the town should furnish him a parsonage house,"but he subsequently consented to dispense with that stipulation on con- dition that the town should pay him one hundred pounds instead thereof. Mr. Clark remained in charge of the church in Exeter until his death in 1705, at the age of thirty-five years. He was highly esteemed by his people; they paid to his widow the full amount of his salary, and erected a tomb over his remains at the expense of the town, and twenty years later made repairs upon the same. The grave of Mr. Clark is in the yard of the lower church, and upon his tombstone were inscribed these lines: "A prophet lies under the stone, His words shall live tho' he be gone. When preachers die, what rules the pulpit gave Of living are still preached from their grave. The faith and life which your dead pastor taught Now in one grave with him, sirs, bury not." Page 385 In the April following (1706) the town voted to give Rev. John Odlin a call to carry on the work of the ministry, and appointed a committee often persons, a major part of whom were empowered to make a full agreement in behalf of the town with him "for his salary and other things needful." Under this authority they contracted to pay him seventy pounds a year, together with the strangers' contribution money, and allow him the use of the parsonage and 200 acres of land, and to give him an outfit of 100 pounds in money towards his settlement. Mr. Odlin was ordained on the 12th of November, 1706. He was a young man, having graduated at Harvard College only four years before. He married Mrs. Clark, the widow of his predecessor, and his pastorate only ended with his life. Ere many years had passed the want of a new place of worship began to be felt. The town had increased in population, and the Indian wars had for the time ceased to alarm and keep down the frontier settlements. When men ventured to go to church without arms in their hands, the tide of immi- gration began to assume its natural flow. On the 16th of December, 1728, it was determined that a new meeting-house should be built, and placed on some part of the land purchased of Capt. Peter Coffin, on which the meeting- house then stood. But so important an undertaking required time, and it was not until the spring of 1731 that the new building was finished. It was placed close by the old meeting-house, which was not removed until after its completion. This, which was the fourth house of worship erected in Exeter, was a large structure, with two galleries, and a broad aisle running up to the pulpit, on each side of which were benches for those who did not own pews, and who, agree- ably to the fashion of the time, had seats assigned them according to age. A high steeple was added to the edifice soon afterwards, at the charge of some public-spirited citizens, who presented it to the town, and a bell was purchased and hung to make all complete. The steeple stood till 1775, when it was blown down in a heavy gale, and rebuilt at the expense of the town; the building lasted till 1798, when it was replaced by the present edifice, which is still standing on the same spot. On November, 1731, the town voted to take down the old meeting-house at once, and with the materials to build a court-house, which was located on the opposite side of the street, just below where the Squamscott House now is. Mr. Odlin ministered to the people of his charge to their acceptance for more than thirty years, and until the time of the "great awakening" under the influence of Whitefield. Mr. Odlin set his face conscientiously against the "new lights," and though a majority of his parishioners agreed with him, a considerable minority were of a different opinion and zealously supported the views of Whitefield. In 1743 the major part of the people joined in a request to Rev. Woodbridge Odlin, son of Rev. John Odlin, to settle over them as the colleague of his father. As it was known that the sentiments of both were in harmony, the partisans of the Whitefield doctrine voted against the younger Mr. Odlin, and being outnumbered, withdrew to the number of forty-one persons, and on the 7th of June, 1744, were organized into the Second Church. Mr. W. Odlin was ordained on the 28th of September, 1743, his father Page 386 preaching the sermon on the occasion. He is represented as having been a man of genuine piety, and of modest and unaffectedly simple manners. He succeeded in keeping his church and people well united, though in time of the troubles between the colonies and Great Britain he took an early and decided stand in favor of the former. He died in 1776, and his parish voted a gift of twenty-five pounds to his widow. In July, 1776, a call was given to Rev. Isaac Mansfield, who was then serving as a chaplain in the Continental army, to settle over the first church and society. The reply was favorable, and Mr. Mansfield was ordained October 9, 1776, Rev. Mr. Thayer, of Kingston, preaching the sermon on the occasion, Rev. Mr. Fogg, of Kingston, delivering the charge, and Rev. Mr. Webster, of Salisbury, giving the right hand of fellowship. Mr. Mansfield was a native of Marblehead, Mass., a graduate of Harvard College, and a man of good capacity, and we have his own authority for saying that during the greater part of his pastorate here of nearly eleven years his situation was pleasant and his people well united. But some unprudences on his part at last weakened the ties between them, and he was dismissed at his own request, made according to an agreement with the parish, September 18, 1787. In January, 1790, an invitation was given to Rev. William F. Rowland to become the pastor, and an annual salary of "40 Spanish milled dollars" was voted him. Mr. Rowland accepted the call, and was ordained June 2, 1790. He ministered to this congregation for thirty-eight years, and was dismissed at his own request, December 5, 1828. He was a worthy man, of good abilities and fervent piety. The remainder of his life he passed in Exeter, and died in 1843 at the age of eighty-two years. The successors of Mr. Rowland have been: Rev. John Smith, 1829-1838; Rev. Wm. Williams, 1838-1842; Rev. J. H. Fairchild, 1843-1844; Rev. R. D. Hitchcock, 1845-1852; Rev. Wm. D. Hitchcock, 1853-1854; Rev. Nathaniel Lasell, 1856-1859; Rev. Elias Nason, 1860-1865; Rev. J. 0. Barrows, 1866- 1869; Rev. Swift Byington, 1871-1893; Rev. W. L. Anderson, 1894-1907; Rev. George H. Driver, 1907. The Second Congregational Church. -- The members of the original parish who seceded from it in 1743 and united to form a new society proceeded in the same or the following year to build a house of worship. It was situated on the lot where Mrs. W. N. Dow's house now stands, and was a building of two stories and respectable capacity. It stood parallel with the street, and on the western end was a goodly steeple, surmounted with a vane. The pulpit was on the side opposite the front door. and a gallery ran round the other three sides. It was this meeting-house in which Whitefield essayed to preach on the day before his death, when it was found all too small to contain his thronging auditors, and he was compelled to address them in the open air, on the opposite side of the way. The seceders naturally wished to be exonerated from paying taxes for the support of the old parish when they ceased to worship there, but the law of that day was against them, and though the town was repeatedly urged to relieve them from the burden the majority would never consent to do so. A petition to the General Assembly of the province for setting off a new parish was opposed by the town and failed. But the society struggled on, and in Page 387 1746 made an unsuccessful attempt to procure Rev. Samuel Buel to become their minister, and in 1747 invited Mr. John Phillips, one of their own number, and afterwards the founder of the Phillips Academy, to act as their pastor, but he declined on the ground of his inability to perform all the duties of the clerical office. Thereupon they extended a call to Rev. Daniel Rogers, who accepted it, and was settled over them August 31, 1747. The same year a mutual council was agreed upon by both churches for the purpose of attempting a reconciliation of the differences which existed between them, but without avail. Rev. Mr. Rogers remained the minister of the new parish until his death, December 19, 1785. For thirty-seven years he labored with piety and zeal for the good of his people, and in his decease it was said "they sustained the loss of a faithful minister, and his children that of a kind and tender father." His parishioners, in token of their respect for his memory, voted to bear the expense of his funeral. After the death of Mr. Rogers, the new parish was without a settled minister for nearly seven years. Rev. Joseph Brown, who was installed over them, November 20, 1792, was a native of Chester, in England, and edu- cated at Lady Huntingdon's Seminary. He remained in Exeter but five years, being dismissed at his own request in 1797, but his ministrations appear to have been quite successful. The parish voted him a present of $50 at his departure. The new society, being now without a pastor, gradually declined in num- hers and interest, and several of the more influential members of the church sought the communion of their brethren of the other parish. The society organization, however, was kept up, and religious services were held with more or less frequency. At length, about 1813, several of the former members having returned, a new impulse appeared to be given to the society, and stated worship was resumed with regularity. Rev. Hosea Hildreth, a resident of the town and a teacher in the academy, was employed to supply the pulpit, which he did till Rev. Isaac Hurd began his ministrations. Mr. Hurd was installed as the pastor, September 11, 1817. When he came to Exeter he found but a small and feeble church, but under his faithful and judicious care it speedily increased in strength and numbers. In 1823 the society had become of sufficient size and ability to build a new meeting-house, which is still standing in the southeastern end of the academy inclosure, and substantially unchanged, except that its length was increased by the addition of about fifteen feet in the year 1863. After a harmonious and successful ministry of nearly thirty years, Mr. Hurd proposed to the society to settle a colleague with him, generously relin- quishing all claim for pecuniary compensation thereafter. The society, grate- fully acknowledging his faithful and efficient labors and assuring him of their unwavering affection, assented to the proposal, and in pursuance thereof Rev. Samuel D. Dexter was ordained as colleague pastor December 2, 1847. He was a native of Boston, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard College, and his personal and religious character were such as to give him a strong hold upon the people, but his labors were cut short by his death, April 20, 1850, at the early age of twenty-four years. And six years later, October 4, 1856, Page 388 Rev. Isaac. Hurd, D. D., at a good old age, beloved, respected, and honored for his amiable character, his Christian virtues, and his faithful labors, passed from earth. Rev. Asa D. Mann was installed as colleague in the place of Mr. Dexter, November 19, 1851. Mr. Mann was born in Randolph, Mass., was a graduate of Amherst College, and had been settled in Hardwick, Mass., before he came to Exeter. After a little less than six years' service here he was dismissed from his charge, July 8, 1857. He was succeeded by Rev. Orpheus T. Lanphear, who was installed February 2, 1858, and dismissed in February, 1864. Rev. John W. Chicker- ing, Jr., was his successor, his installation taking place September 5, 1865, and his dismission July 18, 1870. The eighth pastor of the new society was Rev. George E. Street, who was installed March 30, 1871. His pastorate lasted many years and he was dismissed at his own request. Rev. Alexander P. Bourne was installed as ninth pastor, October 30, 1901, having served as associate pastor from August, 1895. He resigned May 29, 1902. The present incumbent is Rev. Samuel H. Dana who came to Exeter from Quincy, Ill., in 1903. The Baptist Church. -- A Baptist Church was organized in Exeter, October 17, 18o0, consisting of ten members, and a society was formed the next spring by voluntary subscription. Meetings for religious worship were thencefor- ward held regularly on the Lord's day, though the limited number and means of the society enabled them at first to have preaching but a part of the time. Rev. Messrs. William Hooper, John Peak, Samuel Shepard, and other well- known ministers of their denomination lent them occasional aid at this early period. They first used to meet at the house of Harvey Colcord, afterwards at the Centre schoolhouse. In 1805 they built and dedicated their first meeting-house, which was situated on Spring Street. In 1806, Mr. Barnabas Bates preached for them during several months, and in the spring of 1809, Rev. Ebenezer L. Boyd became their preacher and labored with them for two years with encouraging results. In 1814 and the two succeeding years, Rev. Charles 0. Kimball and Rev. James McGregore supplied their pulpit a part of the time. In the year 1817 a Sabbath school was first commenced in connection with the society, which has ever since been continued. The first teacher was the no\v venerable Deacon John F. Moses, who for half a century, with little interruption, held the position of superintendent. Their first settled minister was Rev. Ferdinand Ellis, who took the posi- tion in June, 1818, and occupied it until September, 1828. In the autumn of the latter year Rev. John Newton Brown was settled over the church, and so continued until February, 1833. Rev. John Cannan succeeded him, being ordained May 29, 1833, and remained until February 16, 1834. Rev. J. N. Brown was again invited to the pastorate in 1834, which he filled until he was dismissed in April, 1838. More than two years then elapsed before another minister was settled, during about one-half of which period the pulpit was regularly supplied by Rev. J. G. Naylor. In November, 1840, the church gave an invitation to Rev. Noah Hooper, Jr., to become their minister, which he accepted, and continued with them from December 1st of the year until July 20, 1845. It was nearly three years Page 389 after this before a successor was settled, Mr. T. H. Archibald, licentiate, preaching about one year of the time. In the spring of 1848, Rev. Elijah J. Harris was settled as the pastor, and was dismissed from his charge April 7, 185O. Rev. James French accepted the call of the church in January, 1851, and was settled over them until January I, 1853. After his dismission, Rev. Mr. Russell supplied the desk for a time. Rev. Franklin Merriam was the next settled minister, who was installed in September, 1854, and dismissed in November, 1856. He was succeeded by Rev. James J. Peck, whose pastorate commenced in February, 1857, and continued until April, 1861. On the 1st of July, 1861, Rev. Noah Hooper was solicited to assume the pastoral charge for the second time, and accepted the call. He continued his ministrations until the autumn of 1871, when he was dismissed at his repeated request. Rev. Joseph N. Chase was next invited to become the pastor, and was received into that connection January 16, 1872, and after a long pastorate he resigned and was succeeded in 1895 by Rev. A. E. Woodsum, the present pastor. The meeting-house on Water Street, in which the society now wor- ship, was built in the years 1833 and 1834, In December, 1854, some twenty-two members withdrew from the Water Street Church and formed themselves into a new society. They first held their meetings in a hall on Water Street, until they built a meeting-house, on Elm Street, which was dedicated October 1, 1856. Up to about this time Rev. J. B. Lane supplied them with preaching. Shortly after they removed to the new house, Rev. T. H. Archibald was settled over them as their minister. His pastorate continued not far from two years. For some time after his dismission, the pulpit was supplied by students from the Newton Theological Institution, and afterwards by Rev. Mr. Mayhew. About 1862, Rev. Charles Newhall was installed as the pastor, and continued in the office some eight years. In 1871 the two societies resolved to re-unite, the Elm Street organization was given up, and its members merged again into the Water Street society. Methodist Episcopal Church. -- There was a Methodist meeting sustained here as early as 1832. In 1834 a church was built, and the society prospered until the church numbered about one hundred and eighty members. In 1841- 42 the question of slavery and other discordant elements caused a division in the church, which finally resulted in disorganization. In 1867, at the request of a few earnest Methodists, Rev. C. W. Millen, a student in the Theological Institt1te at Concord, N. H., came to Exeter and organized the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were twenty-five members at first, and they wor- shiped in Mission Hall. After a few weeks Rev. Mr. Millen's duties called him elsewhere. He was followed by Rev. J. D. Folsom. The congregation steadily increased under each pastor, until in 1869 the society purchased the Unitarian Church, at a cost of $4,000. Rev. Mr. Folsom was succeeded by Henry B. Copp, 1869-71; Silas E. Quimby, 1872-74; S. C. Farnham, 1875; J. H. Haines, 1876-78; Mellen Howard 1879-81; J. W. Walker, 1881-82; C. H. Hanaford, 1882-83; C. J. Fowler, 1883; J. W. Adams, 1884-86; C. S. Nutter, 1887; G. A. McLaughlin, 1888-90; S. E. Quimby, 1891-94; T. Whiteside, 1894; J. H. Emerson, 1895- 96; Wm. Woods, 1897-1903; W. R. Boultenhouse, 1903-05; R. R. Huse, 1906-10; H. F. Quimby, 1910. Page 390 Christ Episcopal Church.-The first service of the Episcopal Church in Exeter was held in the town hall by the Rev. F. D. Huntington, D. D., rector of Emmanuel Church, Boston, in July, 1865. The first parish meeting took place the September of the same year, and the first confirmation in November. The Rev. Dr. Cushman took charge in October, 1865, and his connection ceased April 24, 1866. The Rev. James Haughton entered on the rectorship Trinity Sunday, 1866. The sum 0£ $445 was raised by the Rev. Henry A. Neely, D. D., assistant minister of Trinity Church, and officiating at Trinity Chapel, New York. By the efforts of Miss Caroline E. Harris and other ladies, the handsome sum of $4,000 was added to the above. By the exertions of the rector, the Rev. James Haughton, $800 was munificently added to this by contributions from various places to defray the expenses of a tasteful and convenient church of wood on Eliott Street. A memorial window was placed in the west end by Miss C. E. Harris. The church was finished at Christmas, 1867. A bell was given, the joint gift of the Rev. Professor Huntington, of Hartford, Conn., the Rev. Henry A. Coit, D. D., of St. Paul's School, and the rector, Rev. James Haughton. The consecration office was performed by the Right Rev. Bishop Henry A. Neely, of Maine. In September, 1868, the Rev. James Haughton resigned the rectorship. From October to April the parish had no settled clergyman, and was supplied by various ministers from Boston through the energy and skillful manage- ment of Miss Caroline E. Harris. In April, 1869, the Rev. L. P. Parker, D. D., entered on the duties of the rectorship. After two years of loving service he resigned, and from that time until July, 1872, the parish had no settled minister. In 1872 the Rev. Henry Ferguson entered on the duties of this rectorship, remaining until March, 1878, when he was succeeded by the Rev. G. B. Morgan and he by Rev. Edward Goodrich who remained its pastor until his death; when he was succeeded by Victor M. Haughton, its present pastor. Advent Christian Church.-Advent meetings have been held in this town for the last sixty years or more, and in 1877 the church was organized and the following officers chosen: Charles Haley, clerk; George T. Stacy, treasurer; G. T. Stacy and Joseph Haley, deacons; G. T. Stacy and I. E Safford, committee on preaching. Twenty-one united with the church at its organization. It worships in a very neat and convenient chapel erected in 1901, owned by the society and free from debt. As a people they are looking for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rev. John E. Lary is pastor. St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church.-The first mass was said in Exeter at the house of Daniel Fenton in the £all of 1849, by Rev. J. O'Donnell, of Lawrence, Mass. Father O'Donnell was succeeded by Rev. John McDonald, of Haverhill, who commenced to make regular monthly visits to Exeter and Newmarket. At this time mass was said in a loft over a blacksmith shop on Spring Street. The Rev. Father Canovan, of Portsmouth, succeeded Father McDonald, mass being said in the Methodist Church building, which then stood on Centre Street. Page 391 The first resident pastor was the Rev. Father Pareche, and in succession the parish had been governed by the Rev. Fathers O'Hara, Walch, O'Brien, Egan, Lucey, R. Power, J. Cansing, J. E. Finen and P. T. Scott. The present brick church was built during the pastorate of Rev. Michael Lucey, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. The First Unitarian Society was organized June, 1854, by the union of the members of the extinct Universalist Society and a number of Unitarians from the Second Congregational Society. The old Universalist Church was reopened, and Rev. Jonathan Cole became the first settled pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. J. C. Learned, September, 1862. A new church building was erected in 1867-68. It is of wood, in the pointed Gothic style, but modi- fied to meet the requirements of the material. Mr. Learned was succeeded by Mr. Edward Crowninshield in September, 1870, whose ministry was terminated the following year on account of ill health. He was succeeded by Rev. Benjamin F. McDaniels, May 1, 1872. In 1875 a parsonage was built on the church lot. Mr. McDaniel on his resignation was succeeded by Rev. John E. Maude, who died after a short service and was succeeded by Rev. A. C. Nickerson and he by Rev. Edward Green, the present pastor. Miss Annie B. Wiggin is the leader of the Christian Science Church. ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. 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