Amid surrounding gloom and waste,From nature's face we flee,And in our fear and wonder haste,O nature's Life, to thee!Thy ways are in the mighty deep,In tempests as they blow;In floods that o'er our treasures sweep;The lightning and the snow."Though earth upon its axis reels,And heaven is veiled in wrath,Not one of nature's million wheelsBreaks its appointed path.Fixed in thy grasp, the sources meetOf beauty and of awe;In storm or calm, all pulses beatTrue to the central law."Thou art that law, whose will thus done,In seeming wreck and blight,Sends the calm planets round the sun,And pours the moon's soft light.We trust thy love; thou best dost knowThe universal peace,How long the stormy force should blow,And when the flood should cease."And though around our path some formOf mystery ever lies,And life is like the calm and stormThat checker earth and skies,—Through all its mingling joy and dread,Permit us, Holy One,By faith to see the golden threadOf thy great purpose run."
Amid surrounding gloom and waste,From nature's face we flee,And in our fear and wonder haste,O nature's Life, to thee!Thy ways are in the mighty deep,In tempests as they blow;In floods that o'er our treasures sweep;The lightning and the snow."Though earth upon its axis reels,And heaven is veiled in wrath,Not one of nature's million wheelsBreaks its appointed path.Fixed in thy grasp, the sources meetOf beauty and of awe;In storm or calm, all pulses beatTrue to the central law."Thou art that law, whose will thus done,In seeming wreck and blight,Sends the calm planets round the sun,And pours the moon's soft light.We trust thy love; thou best dost knowThe universal peace,How long the stormy force should blow,And when the flood should cease."And though around our path some formOf mystery ever lies,And life is like the calm and stormThat checker earth and skies,—Through all its mingling joy and dread,Permit us, Holy One,By faith to see the golden threadOf thy great purpose run."
Amid surrounding gloom and waste,
From nature's face we flee,
And in our fear and wonder haste,
O nature's Life, to thee!
Thy ways are in the mighty deep,
In tempests as they blow;
In floods that o'er our treasures sweep;
The lightning and the snow.
"Though earth upon its axis reels,
And heaven is veiled in wrath,
Not one of nature's million wheels
Breaks its appointed path.
Fixed in thy grasp, the sources meet
Of beauty and of awe;
In storm or calm, all pulses beat
True to the central law.
"Thou art that law, whose will thus done,
In seeming wreck and blight,
Sends the calm planets round the sun,
And pours the moon's soft light.
We trust thy love; thou best dost know
The universal peace,
How long the stormy force should blow,
And when the flood should cease.
"And though around our path some form
Of mystery ever lies,
And life is like the calm and storm
That checker earth and skies,—
Through all its mingling joy and dread,
Permit us, Holy One,
By faith to see the golden thread
Of thy great purpose run."
The closing of the life of this eminent man was in accordance with his whole ministry. At his funeral services in the Church of the Divine Paternity, Rev. Dr. Armitage, of New York city, in a most impressive address to the congregation, took occasion to speak of an interview with him in his extreme weakness:—
"'Doctor, do you realize now the sweetness of the promise of Christ in your broken condition?' He looked at me with the simplicity of a babe; but I saw a tear moisten his eye and a little tremulousness mingled with his voice, and he said, 'My dear brother, what should I do without Christ. Christ is everything to me now.' So he spoke of the loving Redeemer. I said, 'Well, then, may I have this consolation, Doctor, of knowing that you, who have been in the ministry so long, labored so hard, done so much to lift up other minds and pour consolation into disconsolate hearts, that you to-day realize the same breadth and fulness and sweetness of consolation in Christ that you have ministered to others?' He simply made this answer: 'Doctor, Christ to me is all in all.'
"I asked him if it would be pleasant to have a word of prayer. He made an effort to rise, as if he greeted the proposition with great joy. I said, 'No, Doctor, you can't rise; do nothing; lie quietly, and I will kneel at your side with my hands in yours. Let us give each other to God our Father to-day.' He said, 'Well, we will.' I bent at his side, and with such simplicity and brotherly love and confidence in God as I could summon, sought the blessing of heaven upon him. He joined in the prayer; he buried his brow in one hand, and held my hand with the other. He seemed to glow with love. I asked the Lord to give him strength, and, if possible, to spare him to the church, and presented those wishes at the Throne of Grace which any of your hearts would prompt under similar circumstances. At the close of a brief prayer, as I said, 'Lord, Lord, grant these things to thy servant, for Jesus Christ's sake,' holding my hand with a firm grip, and lifting up his eyes towards heaven, in the same ringing, fervent, strong voice that you have heard so often from his lips, his whole nature said, 'Amen.'"
In 1856 Harvard College conferred upon him thehonorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and Tufts College that of Doctor of Laws in 1878.[48]
During twenty-five years Rev.Joseph D. Piercewas pastor of the Universalist Church in North Attleboro, Mass. He was born in North Scituate, Mass., Nov. 15, 1815, and died in North Attleboro, Nov. 16, 1880. During his minority his educational advantages were limited to the public schools. After serving an apprenticeship as a carpenter, he entered the Derby Academy in Hingham. He taught in the public schools, devoting his leisure to reading and study. Resolved on entering the ministry, he began his preparatory studies with Rev. Hosea Ballou, 2d, in Medford, Mass. His first sermon was preached in East Boston, in 1839. He then supplied the pulpits in South Dedham and East Boston for a year, and was ordained in 1841. He was first settled at Hartland, Vt., where he also taught school, remaining until May, 1845, when he was called to North Attleboro. After a pastorate here of one year, failing health induced him to abandon regular preaching and engage in teaching. He became principal of the Attleboro Academy, continuing to some extent his pastoral work, and occasionally supplying at West Wrentham. In 1850 he took charge of the Universalist parish in Claremont, N. H., where he preached, teaching school also most of the time for five years. He also served as a member of the school committee in that town, and discharged the duties of his office with such marked ability and benefit to the schools that,upon hearing of his intent to remove to Massachusetts, a deacon of the Baptist Church said, "We cannot get along without him." By a unanimous invitation from the parish in North Attleboro, he was again settled there in 1855, where he remained until his death. He was representative of Attleboro in the State Legislature for 1868, and served his constituents with credit. He was an untiring student, logical in thought and method, and an effective preacher. He had great modesty, and never sought for oratorical display. His heart and hand were given to every good work. He was feeble in health, and endured much physical suffering. He once said that he had not known a waking hour free from pain for fifteen years, yet his religious trust and unsubdued spirit sustained him through a life of unremitting toil.
Rev.Thomas J. Carney, of Dresden, Me., was a minister of varied experiences, and a useful laborer in the Gospel field. He was taught the gospel of universal grace and salvation in the home of his childhood. He travelled over the States extensively in youth, and visited the West Indies, and afterwards studied for the ministry. The last years of his life were spent as pastor and missionary in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. He extended his journeyings and missionary work to Missouri and Kansas, and visited New Mexico. He was a man of strong convictions, and an earnest advocate of the doctrine which he loved. He made many friends, and well deserved them. Four church edifices are standing as monuments of his faithfulness. He was fatally injured by a fall from his horse, and died at Buffalo, Ill., in 1871. His wife was, before her marriage,Miss Julia A. Fletcher, a well known and very acceptable writer in our church and to the public.
Rev.James Munroe Cookwas born in Marcellus, Onondaga County, N. Y., Nov. 24, 1818. He was a favorite in the family circle, and kindly regarded by his schoolmates and teachers. At an early age he was a diligent student of the Scriptures, and before he was fifteen years of age was not unfrequently engaged in defending the doctrine which he afterwards preached, and laboring to show to unbelievers its consistency and attractiveness.
In 1837 he came to Rochester, N. Y., and commenced his studies for the ministry with Rev. George Sanderson. He was a diligent student, and had a remarkably retentive memory. His first sermon was preached in Gates, near Rochester, in October, 1837. He had pastorates in Chili, Churchville, Perrinton, and Victor, N. Y. In November, 1845, he entered upon his duties as pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Providence, R. I. Through discouraging circumstances in the beginning of his work here, he went forward with great faith and earnestness, and realized a successful ministry. His pastorate in Providence continued four years, when, in November, 1849, he took charge of the Universalist Society in Baltimore, Md. His good reputation in Providence had preceded him, and he was warmly welcomed by his new friends. They were highly pleased with his pulpit ministries, and the services in the church were well attended, and his popularity in the city was increasing. But the society had a heavy debt upon it, and looked to Mr. Cook as the chief instrumentality in the removal of it. He saw what was before him, andrealized the discouraging magnitude of the work. But he would not shrink from what was expected of him, and entered upon the effort with a bravery that overcame all obstacles, and secured the end desired,—the removal of the debt. But, alas! the strain had been too great; his strength gave way, and in the midst of his usefulness he was called to the higher life. He died in calm resignation, and in strongest hope of entering his final and immortal home.
Of his ministry, Rev. Dr. Thomas Whittemore, at the time of his death, in 1850, wrote:—
"As a preacher he excelled in certain respects. He was a man to move the masses. He spoke without writing, and delivered his message of divine truth with great power. He aimed not at elegant words and polished sentences, but to speak the truth in demonstration of the spirit. He aimed to reach the heart. He would keep the attention of a thousand people fixed intently upon his theme through a long discourse. His sermon, delivered in the Warren Street Church, during the session of the United States Convention in Boston, in 1845, is an illustration of the truth of what we say. There an immense auditory listened to him with the greatest interest for a long time, for they were unconscious of its rapid flight. They caught his feelings, they rejoiced with him, they wept with him, and at the close the general expression of the people was, 'thatwas the Gospel,thatcame from the preacher's heart and reached our hearts.'"
Cut off in the midst of his years, his memory is a blessing for what he was enabled during his short life to accomplish.
[47]Rev. Dr. T. J. Sawyer.[48]For a more particular acquaintance with the life and character of Dr. Chapin, the reader is referred to the excellent Memoir of him by Rev. S. Ellis, D. D., just issued by the Universalist Publishing House.
[47]Rev. Dr. T. J. Sawyer.
[48]For a more particular acquaintance with the life and character of Dr. Chapin, the reader is referred to the excellent Memoir of him by Rev. S. Ellis, D. D., just issued by the Universalist Publishing House.
"As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."—Jesus.
A FERVENT and devoted servant of the Christian Master was Rev.A. W. Bruce. Born in Bennington, Vt., he was taught the Methodist faith, and held it until his nineteenth year, when by his own diligent investigations he became a believer in Universalism. After practising as a physician for a short time, he entered the ministry, and became an indefatigable and successful worker therein. He was ordained in 1843, had settlements in New England and in three of the Western States, and died in Lafayette, Ind. in 1871, leaving a good name in the churches and with all who knew of his work for human reform, and were co-operators with him.
Rev.Frederick A. Hodsdonwas a native of Berwick, Me. In his childhood his parents removed to Kenduskeag, where his early years were mostly spent. When but eighteen years of age, he was the subject of religious impressions, and gave himself by personal consecration to the service of Christ. He became a Universalist in spirit as well as in belief, and resolved to devote his life to the ministry. He was a student withRev. J. B. Dods and Rev. S. Cobb, D. D. His first settlement was in Readfield, Me., his next in Danvers, Mass., his third in Goffstown, N. H., and from his labors here there came the church now existing in Manchester. He was next in Kenduskeag, his old home, where he purchased a place of residence, and was for a time pastor of the society there. In 1839 he preached the sermon at the dedication of the Universalist church in Belfast, and was unanimously invited to become pastor of the society; but was obliged to decline on account of previous engagements. A few years after he accepted a second invitation to the place, where his ministry was very prosperous. In 1849 he acted as General Agent for the Maine Universalist Missionary, Educational, and Tract Societies. In 1850 he accepted a call to New Haven, Conn., where his labors were highly successful. Failing health compelled him to resign his charge, and return to his home in Maine. He did not however, relinquish the work of the ministry, but preached at times in different places, until, on recovering his strength, he was induced to become again minister of the society in Belfast, where he continued for most of the time until he was obliged to abandon the active work of his calling. He was for a little time Chaplain of the 24th Maine Regiment, and minister to the Second Society in Portland. Before his departure he had a long and painful sickness, through which his strong faith sustained him. He died Aug. 19, 1869, aged 64 years.
Mr. Hodsdon was one of the most faithful and honored of our ministers. His convictions were strong, his motives the purest, his preaching clear, earnest, and convincing. A devout man himself, he made othersdevout and prayerful. The cause of vital religion prospered under his ministry. Of attractive and commanding personal appearance, courteous in manners and Christian in spirit, he won the hearts of old and young, and made hosts of friends wherever he resided or was known. The savor of his noble life still lingers in the churches which enjoyed his ministrations.
Rev.Ezekiel W. Coffinwas one of the truly faithful of the ministerial fraternity. He came from Gilead, Me., where he was born August 14, 1810. His parents were Methodists, but in his youth his attention was called to the doctrines of Universalism by the preaching of Rev. Sylvanus Cobb. He afterwards resolved to devote himself to the ministry. He was a student with Rev. Mr. Averill of Eddington, Me., and was ordained June, 1840. He was first settled at Centre Harbor, N. H., for four years; then at Weymouth, Mass., then at Canton St. Church, Boston; afterwards at North Attleboro, Annisquam, Beverly and Shirley, Mass., Jaffrey, N. H., Bryant's Pond, Me., Orange, Mass., West Concord, Vt., and Bernardston, Mass. His ministerial life included about forty-three years.
Those who knew Mr. Coffin bear ample testimony to his many excellent traits, both as a minister and a man; that he lived the doctrine which he taught, and that in his last sickness "he gave the whole community a lesson of patience and resignation in suffering." His illness extended over a period of three and a half years, and was very painful; but he never lost his faith and courage. After he had become so helpless that he could not walk, or even stand, he still continued his work. Faithful friends bore him in his chair to the pulpiton each returning Sunday, and for more than two years he thus,—like Father Murray in his last preaching days,—delivered his testimony while sitting. Weak in body, but strong and upraised in spirit, he gave his testimony to his people inspired with that glorious apostolic assurance, "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you."
Rev.Edward Augustus Drewwas for a few years a useful minister. He was born in Plymouth, Mass., Nov. 22, 1845, and died in Lynn, Mass., Oct. 11, 1874, in the twenty-ninth year of his age. He was very studious from early life. Graduating from the High School in his native town, he entered Tufts College in the autumn of 1863. To assist in defraying his expenses, he was obliged to teach during the winters, and by his ambition and perseverance he took many prizes, besides graduating at the head of the class of 1867. He then became a teacher of the ancient languages in the Medford (Mass.) High School, where he remained two years. In 1869 he became Principal of the Green Mountain Institute, now known as the Green Mountain Perkins Academy, at South Woodstock, Vt. He afterwards took the position of Chase Classical Instructor at Dean Academy, which he occupied until the summer of 1871, when the conviction that he should enter the ministry induced him to enter Tufts Divinity School, where he graduated in June, 1872. He was first settled as pastor of the Universalist Church in Newburyport, Mass., and in one year afterwards became pastor of the Second Universalist Society in Lynn, where he remained until his death.His labors were blessed with excellent results, but his course was impeded by failing health. Another has written of him:—
"He was highly appreciated and esteemed as a preacher of the Gospel. His manner was pleasing, his language well chosen, his thoughts clearly presented, his illustrations appropriate, often the fruit of his scholarly reading and taste; and there was a blending of the doctrinal, practical, and spiritual in his discourses that made his preaching both instructive and inspiring, and adapted to interest and benefit all classes of hearers. Outside of his own church he was greatly esteemed and beloved."
Rev.Norris Coleman Hodgdonwas born in Epping, N. H., Aug. 22, 1818. His means of education in the beginning of life were limited, but he was fond of books and study, and earnest and persevering in his search for knowledge. After becoming a conscientious believer in the faith of Universalism, he made every effort to strengthen his own convictions, and to awaken the attention of others to the claims of Christian truth. He preached his first sermon July 23, 1841. He then preached a short time in Baltimore, Md., Philadelphia, New York, and Brooklyn; went to Maine in 1843, and was ordained in Paris, December 28, of the same year. He preached in that vicinity for a short time, and then awhile in Ludlow, Vt. He was afterwards settled in East Randolph, Chester, Jacksonville, and Vernon, Vt., in Kingston, N. H., Harvard, South Dedham, Marlborough, and Foxborough, Mass. His last settlement was for one year in Pittsfield, Me. While living in Vernon, Vt., he compiled and published a book called "A Denominational Offering from the Literature of Universalism."It contains extracts from different writers in exposition and enforcement of the doctrine and spirit of Universalism, and has been well received. While attending a meeting near Wilton, Me., in 1877, he was stricken with paralysis, from which he rallied, and was able for a while to read and write and visit his friends. He moved to Benton after his illness, where he passed the last years of his life. He was a faithful, earnest man and minister.
Rev.S. P. Landers, of Central New York, entered the ministry in 1836. He was for a little time in Andover, Mass., and in 1841 began his work as pastor in Worcester, where he laid the foundation of the Universalist church in that city. He afterwards resided in West Cambridge (now Arlington), preaching on Sundays, and devoting his other time chiefly to his favorite pursuit, horticulture, and to the interests of a private seminary established by members of his own household. He was highly esteemed for his many virtues. "His whole family," writes his daughter, "are Universalists, and have been since Universalism as such has been known in the land. In his native town (Afton, N. Y.) half the Universalists are named Landers, or are related to them."
Rev.John Nichols, of Cohasset, Mass., had pastorates in different places in Massachusetts, and in Claremont, N. H. He was pastor in Holliston nine and in Beverly ten years, and while in the former place represented the town in the Legislature of 1848-9. He was a pure-minded, warm-hearted, toiling man. In every one of his settlements he wrought a good work, and theinfluence of his character and deeds made not only the minister, but the cause he represented, respected. He was in sympathy with every moral reform, but was called suddenly away. While preaching his last discourse in Beverly, he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered, his farewell sermon being thus his farewell to earthly scenes.
Rev.Robert Killamwas another faithful, modest, and earnest man. His pastorates were in three considerable towns in Massachusetts. He closed his earthly work in West Scituate in 1866, aged seventy-six. He was a Bible Christian, a plain and clear expositor, practical in his preaching as in his daily conduct. Another writes of him: "He early saw and illustrated the duty of applying the Gospel to all the affairs of life. He joined the advancing hosts in the grave questions which have convulsed the nation, his countenance aglow with youthful fire when he argued the equal rights of man."
Rev.Charles Henry Websterwas born in Georgetown, Mass., Dec. 5, 1817. He was from early life fond of books and study, and determined if possible to obtain a liberal education. But at the age of eighteen, while attending school at Bradford (Mass.) Academy, he was accidentally injured in one of his eyes, and did not fully recover for some years. He was afterwards able to prepare for the ministry at Clinton, N. Y., and was first settled at Beverly, Mass.; afterwards at East Lexington, South Dedham, East Boston, Chicopee, Mass.; at Auburn and Lewiston, Me.; at Collinsville and Granby, Conn. At the last-named place he lived nine years, acting for two years as State Missionary. In December,1864, he was appointed chaplain of the 29th Maine Regiment, and served to the close of the war. His son, a young man of much promise, died of wounds received in the service. Mr. Webster's first wife was Miss Mary Buckminster, of Georgetown, Mass.; his second, Mrs. M. C. Granniss, a lady long and favorably known to the denomination by her contributions to the "Ladies' Repository" and other periodicals. Upon his second marriage he went into secular business, still continuing to preach as opportunity offered. He died of pneumonia, after great suffering, March 8, 1877, in his sixtieth year. He was one of the true and brave spirits who endured obloquy and repudiation by family and friends because of his fidelity to his religious convictions, and was made more than victor in his persistent and devoted life.
Rev.Asa P. Cleverlydid good service in the ministry. Ordained in 1834, he became the pastor of societies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He had not the wide recognition of some ministers, but his character was pure, and the best results of faithful Christian exertion were found in every parish in which he labored. The pastors following him had cause to speak in praise of the good works of their predecessor. He died in Boston in 1871, aged sixty-four.
Rev.Thomas J. Whitcombwas born in Hanover, Mass., June 4, 1801, and died in Canisteo, Steuben County, N. Y., Feb. 9, 1877. He attended for a while the academy in the neighboring town of Hingham, and studied for the ministry with Rev. Paul Dean, in Boston. He was ordained in Washington, N. H., in June, 1827. In 1830 he was at Hudson, N. Y., and was afterwardslocated at Schenectady, Victor, Cortland, Newport, Springville, Buffalo, and Alexander, N. Y., and, in 1844-46, at Hightstown, N. J. In 1868 he went to live in Cambridgeboro', Crawford County, Pa., where he resided four years. He then removed to Canisteo, and remained there until his death. He has left an excellent name as a citizen, minister, and pastor. Rev. Dr. Le Fevre, who knew him well, says:—
"Brother Whitcomb was not what is termed a sensational preacher, nor did he possess rhetorical powers, but he was a good preacher, and left on his hearers the conviction of his earnestness and devotedness. As a disciple of the Master, he followed his direction 'Go preach the Gospel!' That was the sum and substance of his message. In his pastoral relationship he was very efficient."
Rev.George W. Whitney, born in Nashua, N. H., March 27, 1843, was another of our worthy ministers called away from his earthly work in the prime of his usefulness. He received his early religious training in the Congregational Church, when after his eighteenth year becoming an attendant at the Universalist Church, of which Rev. J. O. Skinner was pastor, he embraced the doctrines there taught, and subsequently entered upon the study of divinity. His first sermon was preached on the day of his majority, at West Windsor, Vt., where he preached part of the time in 1865. He was afterwards located as pastor in Westminster, Beverly, and Quincy, Mass., and in 1878 assumed the pastorate of the parish in Augusta, Me., remaining here until the progress of his disease (consumption) forced him to resign. He preached his last sermon Jan. 9, 1881, concluding a rich and successful ministry. Hehad the inborn elements of a Christian minister. He was a logical, ready, and gifted speaker, but his great strength lay in his earnest and sympathetic nature, which found out the best qualities in his hearers and roused them to action. When conscious that his life-work was ended, he saw the approach of death with calmness; his sufferings seemed but to develop greater spirituality. In one of his last letters to a friend, he says: "Never until these days of trial and sickness has the spiritual and divine been so real, or my faith in another life so strong." He died in Waltham, Mass., May 26, 1881.
Rev.Robinson Brearecame into our ministry from England. He was in early life a member of the Wesleyan Church there. In 1832 he was inducted into the ministry of that church, having been examined by the Rev. Richard Watson, the author of Watson's "Institutes." In 1839 he was sent as a missionary to Halifax, N. S. In 1841, while engaged in the work of a revival in his church, a Universalist book was put into his hands, and after a careful reading of it, and long and prayerful inquiry and meditation, he became a believer in the Gospel of God's impartial grace and salvation. And there in Halifax, in the face of persecution by his former parishioners, in spite of the severance of all former friendships, he began, in painfulness and trial, the work of building up the Universalist Church. From that time, the work has gone steadily forward. Our church in Halifax is as true and substantial as any that exists in the Province.
Mr. Breare remained in Halifax until the first church was built. He then came to Massachusetts, where helabored from 1844 to 1853. In this last-named year he came to Ohio, where he successfully canvassed for the "Star in the West." Afterwards, for two years, he was employed as missionary by the Ballou Association. In 1856 he came into Gallia County, where he lived during the remainder of his days, having his home at last in Wilkesville, Vinton County. He was loved and honored wherever known, and no man, it would seem, could have had a more complete consecration than he to the Christian cause. With his immovable faith in Universalism, he united the enlightened and fervent zeal of a true Christian revivalist.
Workman of God! O lose not heart,But learn what God is like;And in the darkest battle-fieldThou shalt know where to strike.Lyra Catholica.
Workman of God! O lose not heart,But learn what God is like;And in the darkest battle-fieldThou shalt know where to strike.Lyra Catholica.
Workman of God! O lose not heart,
But learn what God is like;
And in the darkest battle-field
Thou shalt know where to strike.
Lyra Catholica.
REV. ZADOC H. HOWE, of Maine, after receiving an academical education in Readfield, Me., prepared for the ministry, and was ordained in 1846. After a service of some years in his native State, he removed to Monroe, Madison County, Wis., where, after preaching a year and a half, he was compelled by failing health to suspend his labors. A severe bronchial trouble, making public speaking difficult, was the cause of frequent removals. For the last six or seven years of his life he was postmaster of Monroe. During the war of the Rebellion he was appointed chaplain of the 5th Wisconsin regiment, but was obliged after a few months to resign. He was a gentle and pure-souled man, with keen intellectual powers. One who knew him well, has written of him:—
"In theology, as in his theories of reform in general, he was very radical, holding firmly and conscientiously to the naturalistic views of the so-called liberal wing of the theologians, and did not feel himself in complete harmony with thepolicy of the Universalist denomination. Yet embracing with his whole heart its fundamental and distinguishing tenets, his soul was all aflame with noble and generous impulses."
Rev.Willard C. Georgewas one of the preachers of Maine, having had pastorates there in Bremen, Dresden, and Calais. He was one of the most modest of men, of feeble voice, but a speaker who was very acceptable to his hearers, because of the good thoughts brought out in his discoursing. Convinced that his health required a change of occupation, he adopted the medical profession, making a visit to Europe to gain information from foreign sources that might aid him in his new vocation. On his return home he published a book of his travels and observations abroad. He was a successful practitioner in several places, and finally returned to his native town, Norway, Me., where he died in October, 1869, aged fifty-seven. He was not only a sound theologian, but was well versed in the physical sciences, upon which he frequently lectured. He never abandoned his purpose to return to the ministry as soon as his health would allow. He was a devoted Christian, and gave his life to much of the good work which Christianity requires.
Rev.Mark Powersbegan his preparation for the ministry with Rev. L. H. Tabor, then of West Charleston, Vt., in February, 1854, and in July, 1855, was ordained at Washington, Vt., where for four years he lived, preaching there and at Strafford, twenty miles distant. He afterwards removed to Strafford, where he continued to preach for six years, making in all ten years of labor in the latter place. He then removed toGaysville, Vt., where he continued for four years, and from thence to West Concord, which was his last settlement. In Strafford he induced the Universalists to buy out the Free Will Baptists, who claimed to own one half of the meeting-house, and to repair it, and was thus instrumental in giving them a house of their own, and freeing them from the constant annoyance to which a union house had subjected them. Essentially the same thing was accomplished while he lived in Gaysville, while the effort there resulted also in a better edifice. In West Concord, his ministry, though short, was successful. His sermons were sound, his spirit excellent, and the result of his teaching every way good. In the autumn of 1870 Mr. Powers attended the Centenary Convention at Gloucester, Mass., where he was taken with a hæmorrhage of the lungs from which he never recovered. He died in June, 1872.
Rev.Lewis Leonard Recordwas born in Minot (afterwards Auburn), Me. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1845. In 1850 he was ordained, and was settled as a preacher in Houlton, Me., in Scituate and Anisquam, Mass. In 1863 he went into the army as chaplain of the 23d Massachusetts regiment of volunteers, and served eleven months. While with the army in North Carolina he was attacked with the yellow fever, from the effects of which he never recovered. When his strength was somewhat restored, he engaged in missionary work, and did good service, especially in Biddeford and Saco, Me., preparing the way for a new house of worship in that locality. In 1870 he moved to Marlboro', N. H., where he labored earnestly and successfully until July, 1871, when he was compelled todesist from labor, and from that date he steadily declined until his death, which took place in Marlboro, Dec. 7, 1871, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. At his burial the clergymen of different denominations in the town acted as pall-bearers. He was highly respected, and his whole being was consecrated to the cause of the Gospel.
Rev.Henry H. Bakerwas born in Minot, Me., Nov. 24, 1811, and died of paralysis in Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1881. He was aided by friends in obtaining an education with the expectation that he would become a Methodist preacher; but being converted to Universalism in his school days, he was unable to comply with their wishes, and desired to enter the ministry of his newly-adopted faith. Being restrained from this by the fear of alienating his friends, he determined to study medicine; but after devoting a year to this, he yielded to his stronger impulse, and by advice of Rev. D. T. Stevens, then of Lewiston Falls, Me., abandoned medicine and began the study of divinity. He was ordained in 1841. His first pastorate was over the societies of Windham and Gray, Me., where he preached on alternate Sundays for two years. He was afterwards settled over the parishes in Elliot and Kittery, Me., in Essex and Georgetown, Mass., in Ludlow, Vt., in Hammond, Fort Plain, St. Johnsville, Fordsbush, Argusville, and other neighboring towns, N. Y., one year in Orange, Mass., and six years in Middleport, N. Y. After this he lived in Rochester and preached in Conesas, when his health declined, and he preached only occasionally as his health would permit. He was a member of the Massachusetts Legislature from Georgetown while helived there in the winter of 1850-1. He was an earnest, sincere, and faithful servant of the Christian Master.
Rev.James W. Fordwas born in Orford, N. H., in 1796, and died at Kendall's Mills, Me., Dec. 16, 1861, aged sixty-five. He was educated for the medical profession, and gained a good reputation as a physician, having served in that capacity in Westbrook and Waterville, Me. His love of Universalism, however, gradually led him into the ministry. He appears as a new minister in 1841, at Claremont, N. H. He was at Morristown, Vt., from 1842 to 1844; at Glover, Vt., 1844 to 1847; at Winchester, N. H., 1847 to 1851; at Springfield, Vt., 1851; at Springfield, Mass., 1852 and 1853; at Holyoke, Mass., 1854-5; at Norway, Me., 1856 to 1860; at Kendall's Mills from 1860 until his decease. Wherever he resided he was respected as a physician and minister. After an illness of several months he passed away quietly and peacefully, leaving a family and numerous friends to cherish his memory. He was buried with Masonic honors, and two Methodist clergymen assisted in the funeral services.
Rev.E. H. Lakewas born in Haverhill, Mass., and moved to Lynn when fifteen years old. He soon became constant at church and active in conference meetings. In 1839, when only seventeen, he commenced preparing for the ministry, and soon after began preaching in school-houses in the surrounding towns. He was afterwards settled successively in Middleton and Bridgewater, Mass., and East Kingston and Westmoreland, N. H. About 1850 he removed to South Carolina on account of failing health, and travelled extensivelyin that State, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. He wrote much for the Universalist paper of that region, held several public discussions, published a book, and did the full work of a very strong man. He was a ready speaker, earnest, keen, yet pleasant, and had a retentive memory. He was difficult to manage in controversy, but was always orderly, respectful, and kind to his opponent. He had purchased a small farm of 100 acres in Magnolia, N. C., where he resided with his family. He had seemed to be on the borders of the grave with consumption for two years, but still kept actively engaged in his profession, and died while on a visit to Rev. A. Bosserman, then just released from prison in Richmond, in the autumn of 1862, aged about forty years.
Rev.L. B. Masondied in May, 1864, in Madison, Wis. He was favorably known as a minister and highly esteemed in New England. He was at one time pastor of the Second Universalist Church in Lowell, Mass. From this city he moved to Haverhill, Mass., and was pastor of the Universalist Church in that place several years. From Haverhill he was called to the pastorate of St. Paul's Church in Chicago. He became proprietor and editor of the "New Covenant," and conducted the paper with much ability and discretion. After the breaking out of the Rebellion, he became chaplain of the 12th Wisconsin Regiment, but the hardships and exposure incident to the position were too much for his frail constitution, and he was compelled to resign his office in the autumn of 1863, after having faithfully served his regiment from the day of its organization. His men loved him devotedly, and testified to his faithfulnessas a chaplain. But he came home quite broken in health, though afterwards preaching and working when many men of feebler determination would have been utterly discouraged. On one or two occasions he fainted in the pulpit when officiating, but still persisted in his work till within a few weeks of his decease.
Rev.Lafayette Barstowdied in Orono, Me., Nov. 10, 1865, aged forty-three years. In his youth he was connected with the Universalist Church in Chicopee, Mass., where he won the confidence and respect of his brethren. In 1850 he went to Oregon, where he remained several years. Returning to the East, he entered Tufts College, and was afterwards called to the pastorship of the Universalist Society in Orono, Me., where he labored with diligence and success for eight years, closing his only pastorate with his earthly life. Ex-Governor Washburn, for several years one of his parishioners, wrote in regard to his death and the loss to the Orono Society and to the denomination:—
"In the community where he lived his place will not be easily supplied. He had become, as it were, an integral part of the life of Orono. His well-known form will be missed upon the street, the light of his genial face, radiant with spiritual beauty, will be a joy in its homes no more, but his memory will be sweet and precious to all, of whatever religious name or party, who have known him intimately."
Rev.Stillman Bardenwas a fervent and devout man. Born in Stoddard, N. H., he commenced his ministry in 1839, and labored with but little cessation for twenty-six years. Most of his ministry was in Massachusetts. He was settled as pastor in SouthReading, Orleans, Beverly, Marblehead, and Rockport. His whole ministerial, domestic and social life, was one of Christian fidelity. Not preaching to large congregations of people, never receiving a large salary, he was, nevertheless, truly successful in securing the best results of the ministry. His religion was intensely practical. He was active in the cause of Temperance, and the Anti-slavery cause had not a well-wisher more ardent or conscientious. He loved the prayer and conference meeting, and was always ready with a warm and suggestive word to give it effect. He was much interested in the science of mineralogy, and had gathered quite a large and valuable cabinet of choice specimens. He died in Rockport, Mass., Aug. 7, 1865, aged fifty-three years.
Rev.Timothy J. Tenneywas a native of Weare, N. H., and came into the ministry from the instruction of Rev. T. F. King, of Portsmouth, N. H., in 1834. In 1836 he moved to Maine, where in Fryeburg and neighboring towns he labored successfully for nearly four years. He was afterwards minister in Norway and Denmark, and then in St. Johnsbury and in Glover, Vt., where he closed his earthly career. So good was his health generally that he failed in no one instance to meet his appointments on account of illness, until at the very last of his days. He died in Glover, Vt., Oct. 8, 1854. He was an able and devoted minister of the New Testament, a conscientious and faithful man, true to his own convictions. He was a Christian reformer, always the active friend of Temperance, Freedom, and Peace. His son, Rev. C. R. Tenney, is at present pastor of the Universalist Church in Stoughton, Mass.
Rev.Orren Perkins, born at Savoy, Mass., Aug. 11, 1823, preached his first sermon at South Adams, and was ordained at Bernardston, by the Winchester Association, in June, 1847. He was settled at Bernardston four years; afterwards had a short pastorate at Wilmington, Vt., and then moved to Winchester, N. H., where he remained twelve years. For five of those years he was a member of the State Legislature, being three years in the House and two in the Senate. He was also for ten years State superintendent of schools. Later, he took charge of the Academy at Cooperstown, N. Y., with which he was connected some years. He was settled at West Concord, Vt., the last two years of his life, and left there for Chicago, where he was to be employed in editorial work on the "Star and Covenant." He had a peculiarly sensitive and nervous temperament; and during the last few years was subject to great depression of spirits, caused by the loss of his property and the almost total failure of his voice. A gloomy cloud hung over him: he felt that his usefulness was at an end, and his mental anguish became insupportable. In a moment of frenzied despair his mind, affected by hereditary insanity, gave way, and he freed himself from the earthly life. He was much beloved, and his life was blameless. He was an accurate scholar, a very successful teacher, and an able and interesting writer. He died at Chicago, Ill., Oct. 30, 1880. He leaves a widow, Mrs. Sarah M. Perkins (one of our woman preachers), and three daughters.
Rev.Charles Heman Duttonwas born in Ogden, Genesee County, N. Y., Oct. 5, 1823, and died in Hamilton, Ohio, July 17, 1877, in his fifty-fourth year. Hisfamily removed to Rochester, N. Y., when he was seventeen years old; and he was a student in the Rochester Collegiate Institute. His thoughts at an early age had been turned to the ministry through the preaching of Rev. J. M. Cook. His studies preparatory to the ministry were very meagre; a few months were spent with Rev. Mr. Hammond of Rochester, and a few more with Rev. S. R. Smith, then of Buffalo. He was licensed as a preacher in 1843, when he was scarcely twenty years old. He was pastor in Essex, Canton, Marblehead, and Lowell, Mass. Afterwards he resided in Rochester and Leroy, N. Y., in Springfield, Marietta, and Hamilton, Ohio, in which last-named place he died. He was credited, in the various places of his residence, with a vigorous intellect, superior pulpit talents, gentlemanly manners, and the conscientious and faithful performance of his duties as a minister of the Gospel. His Christian faith grew stronger and stronger as the outward man failed.
Thirty years since, there was a minister of the Universalist faith in New Hampshire and Vermont, "a plain, blunt man," with no pretensions to a classical education, but speaking in words of most expressive English, with "the Bible at his tongue's end,"—Rev.Robert Bartlett. He was one of the pioneers, who preached the Gospel as opportunity occurred, in any place—school-house, barn, parlor, kitchen, church, or in the open field. He was always astir, and always full of his theme, "the Gospel of Universal Grace and Salvation." In the country places, rather than in cities, he seemed most at home. Once, it is said, when appointed to preach an occasional Convention sermon, at the yearlyassembling, in a large and beautiful church, he seemed in his simplicity and modesty so overpowered by the thought of the occasion as to be able to make only a faint demonstration of his speaking powers. But in his usual Sunday services in the rural places and with plainest surroundings, he would preach the word of the primitive Gospel "in demonstration of the spirit and with power." He is remembered, by not a few who have heard him, as such a preacher.
In recent time Mr. Bartlett disappeared from public notice; his work being done, and the infirmity of years resting upon him. He recently departed this life in Boston, January, 1882, aged nearly ninety. The funeral was attended by Dr. Miner, who in his youth had often listened to his preaching. The remains were taken for burial to Laconia, N. H.
"Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ."—2Cor.v. 20.
REV. RUFUS SPUR POPE, pastor of the First Universalist Society in Hyannis, Mass., died in that place June 5, 1882. He was born in Stoughton, Mass., April 2, 1809. His father removed from Stoughton to Dorchester, and thence to Marlboro, where the son spent his youthful days in agricultural pursuits. He received his education in the common schools and in the Marlboro Academy. While young he was drawn toward the ministry, and his love for it continued to the end. He spent some time in theological studies with the late Rev. Sylvanus Cobb, D. D., in Malden; and in 1833 preached his first sermon, in South Dedham. Besides his settlement in this place, he had pastorates in Milford, Sterling, and Hardwick, covering a period of ten years. In 1843 the society in Hyannis invited him to be their pastor. Accepting the call, he labored in this place faithfully thirty years. After closing his work here, he ministered to the church in Orleans three years, and briefly supplied some other parishes. His health has been gradually failing for some years.
Mr. Pope was a public man in more than one sense. He served Barnstable for years very faithfully and acceptablyas one of its school committee, and was for two years representative from the town in the State Legislature. He filled for some time the office of Register of Probate for Barnstable County, and was for several years postmaster of Hyannis. He was an active and much respected member of the Masonic fraternity.
Rev.William M. De Longwas born in Pittsfield, Otsego County, N. Y., Sept. 2, 1815, and died in Binghampton, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1877, aged sixty-two years. He was the youngest of a family of five brothers and nine sisters. When he was nine years old the family moved to Hastings, Oswego County. His mother became entirely blind by an inflammation in her eyes, and by reason of afflictions, of hard times and many children to provide for, the family was reduced to abject poverty. The father died soon after removing to Hastings, and the family was broken and scattered. The mother moved to Clark's Mills, near Utica, where she died in 1830, when William was fifteen years old. He lived a year in Sanquoit, with a friend of the family, and while there heard Rev. W. Bullard and Rev. Dolphus Skinner preach a few Universalist sermons, in which young De Long became deeply interested, as well as in reading the "Magazine and Advocate," and for this reason was dismissed from the machine-shop at Unadilla Forks by its proprietor, a Mr. Abel Stillman, who, however, reconsidered his unreasonable conduct, and reinstated Mr. De Long, who worked there long enough to acquire the money to pay for a year's tuition at Hartwick Seminary. He afterwards attended the New Berlin Academy. His faith in Universalism grew with his increased facilities for study, and in August, 1835, he preached hisfirst sermon. He was ordained July 20, 1837, and preached under different engagements at Lebanon, Oran, and Binghampton, in New York. In 1841 he joined Rev. George Rogers in a missionary tour through Ohio and Indiana. For many years he itinerated over a large circuit in New York and Pennsylvania. He was twice married, first to Miss Mary Ann Ashcroft, who died in 1870, and in 1871 to Miss Mary Jane Swart, an acceptable preacher of the Universalist faith, who survives him. There is a good account of her in "Our Woman Workers," by Mrs. Hanson.
In 1873 Mr. De Long began to suffer from a paralytic affection, from which he could get no relief. These sentences, written and signed by him a short time before he had lost the power of guiding his pen, show the strength of his faith: "I know that God is, that my Redeemer liveth, and that we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is the source of my consolation."
Rev.W. B. Linnellwas born in Birmingham, England, in 1804, and died in Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 6, 1868. His first settlement in the ministry was in Springboro, Ohio, in 1844, where he continued for seven years. He afterwards had a settlement in Fairfield, Ind.; Mt. Pleasant, Ia.; and Oquawka, in which last place he remained until the breaking out of the war. He then enlisted in the service of his adopted country as chaplain of the 10th Illinois regiment. Health failed him, and he returned to his home, after enduring the hardships of camp life for nearly a year. After recovering his health, he took charge of the church in Vevay, Ind. He was one of the pioneersof Universalism in the West, and did good service as a Christian minister. Having much of the missionary spirit, his appointments were always numerous, and they were made many weeks ahead. As a preacher, though not particularly brilliant, he was always efficient. He inherited the traditional shrewdness and humor of the Yorkshire people, who were his ancestors, in such a degree as to make him a marked character among his brother ministers. He was kind and tender-hearted to a fault, yet his will was unbending, and when his mind was once made up it was difficult to change him.
Rev.Joshua Brittoncame from Westmoreland, N. H., where he was born Aug. 14, 1803. His early life was spent upon a farm, where he had but limited opportunities for attending school. But he diligently improved those that offered, and at the age of eighteen began a successful career as a teacher, which extended over ten years, pursuing his studies at the same time, and still adding to his stores of knowledge. He had from youth a serious and devout mind, and was always a regular attendant on public worship. He was inclined to the faith of the Presbyterian Church until about the age of twenty-three, when he had opportunities for hearing the doctrines of Universalism advocated and defended by the late Rev. Dolphus Skinner, and others. He became deeply interested, and his intelligent mind eagerly drank in the new views presented. His faith grew stronger with the lapse of time, and he finally resolved to enter the ministry. He preached his first sermon in 1831, and was ordained at Burlington Flats, N. Y., June 6, 1832. He was settled over parishes inthe State of New York till 1839, when he was in Chesterfield, N. H., for a year. He spent the next ten years in Dudley and North Chatham, Mass.; then three years in Stoddard and Richmond, N. H. He removed to Vermont in 1853, and preached in Brattleboro, West Concord, Lyndon, and Bradford for the next fifteen years, when he went to Fort Atkinson, Wis., which was his home for the remainder of his life. He was a faithful and excellent pastor; he had a mild and loving heart, and won many friends. If not one of the greatest ministers intellectually, he was one of the best spiritually, and his life was a pure and useful one. He died at Fort Atkinson, Wis., Oct. 30, 1878.
An instance illustrative of the orderly habits of the man was, years ago, related to the writer. The books in his library were always exactly in their places, and the backs of them in a straight line. At one time an exchange minister, who had the free use of the library during a Sunday's tarrying, had failed to replace the volumes he had taken down according to the rules of the proprietor. When Mr. Britton entered the study on his return home, while his brother was yet there, the first kindly salutations were scarcely over when the projecting volumes were all noted and quickly adjusted by their owner. A singular and timely suggestion.
Rev.George Messengerwas originally from Berkshire, Mass., removing from thence to the State of New York, and afterwards, in 1838, to Springfield, Ohio, where he ever after lived, a widely known and highly respected citizen. He was licensed as a preacher at Madison, N. Y., in 1824, and ordained, at Eatonsbush, N. Y., Oct. 12, 1826. He was an itinerant preacher,and much interested in the prosperity of the church where he resided. As one of the trustees of Buchtel College, he gave much of his time and attention to the supervision of the erection of the college building. For the last few months of his life he was very hard at work at Akron, and while thus engaged contracted a sickness which terminated in death. "It may be said of him," wrote the editor of "The Star in the West," "that he died a martyr to the work which had enlisted his sympathies, namely, establishing Buchtel College on a permanent basis. He subscribed largely and liberally to the fund for its erection, and was an unceasing worker in its behalf. His widow, since his death, has been a substantial helper to the institution. She endowed the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy, in memory of her husband, to the amount of $25,000; and has also contributed largely to the expenses of the institution, and given again and again for various special purposes."[49]
Rev.John Temple Goodrich, of Middlefield, Otsego County, N. Y., born in 1815, studied theology with Rev. Stephen R. Smith. In 1836, when less than twenty-one years of age, he was settled as a preacher in Oxford, Chenango County, N. Y., where he remained about twelve years. In 1850 he was called to the pastorate of the Universalist Church at Canton, N. Y., where he remained for five years, doing good work there and in neighboring places. An affection of his throat induced him to accept a call to Reading, Pa., where he labored two years, and where his influence was strong and extended as it had been elsewhere.After this he was persuaded to return to Canton, and take the agency of the new Theological School and College projected at that place, and served in that capacity for five years, successfully, preaching in the mean time in Canton and elsewhere. It was largely through his efforts that the New York Legislature appropriated $25,000 to the Canton schools. Released from this work, he became pastor of the Eighth Street Church, Philadelphia, where he remained four years, when he left them out of debt and himself out of health. After an interval spent in travelling, he went to Wilmington, Del., and supplied that missionary station for about two years.
While he lived in Canton, he held an oral discussion with Rev. Mr. Wheeler, Baptist, which continued several evenings, and was a marked success on the part of Mr. Goodrich. In Wilmington he held a written controversy with Rev. Mr. Hoffman, a Presbyterian minister, a success also. Years before this, he had held a written and oral discussion with Rev. Mr. Dyer, a Presbyterian, of Preston, N. Y., which gave the cause of Universalism an impetus in that place. Mr. Goodrich was not combative, and would not seek a controversy, nor would he shrink from one if duty called him to engage in it. He was devotedly attached to his family, and was anxious to close up his secular concerns, and settle down over some parish where the labor required was such as his health would enable him to perform. With this intent he left home on the 25th of September, 1871; went to Fulton, then to Watertown, to Rochester, and to Chicago, where he was seen by acquaintances, and where his name was entered on the register of the Metropolitan Hotel, for room No. 36, on the 5th ofOctober, and where it afterwards remained, with bill unsettled. He, with many others, perished in the dreadful conflagration at that time.
Rev.Franklin Charles Flintwas born in Nelson, N. H., June 16, 1836, and died in Shrewsbury, Mass., March 23, 1876. In 1840 his family moved to Hancock, N. H., and in 1842 to Shrewsbury, Mass., where he worked on his father's farm and attended a district school. At an early age he was quite studious, and desired a classical education. He went through his preparatory course at Thetford (Vt.) Academy, and in 1857 entered Amherst College. But, after spending two years there, he left, entered at Tufts, and graduated in 1861, the third in a class of twelve, with a philosophical oration. He was enabled to work his way through college by gaining, in a competitive examination, one of the scholarships granted by the State of Massachusetts to Tufts College, and by what he could earn in teaching school during his vacations. Upon graduating, he took charge of the high school in Westboro, Mass., and in the mean time turned his attention to theology. He preached his first sermon at Groton (now Ayer Junction). In 1863 he preached in Dana and vicinity, teaching meanwhile a select school. In 1864-5 he taught a select school at Hyannis, Mass., and afterwards was assistant in the academy at Dudley. In 1865 he removed to Chatham, on Cape Cod, where he was ordained, July 31, 1866. In 1867 he became pastor of the Universalist Society in Southbridge, Mass., where he proved himself a faithful minister, a useful member of the school committee, an efficient worker in the temperance cause, and by his active interest and co-operation inevery good work, and by his frank and genial manners, won the respect and good will of the people in and out of his parish. In 1874 he took charge of the Willow Park Seminary, at Westboro, Mass., but resigned after one year. He preached for short periods at Oxford and Rockport. In 1874 he prepared for the press a memoir of the late Rev. W. W. Wilson, one of his predecessors in the pastorate at Southbridge. In 1875 he took charge of the Universalist Society in Attleboro, Mass., but failing health compelled him to resign the position in March, 1876. His people voted him leave of absence, hoping he might recover, and he went to his father's in Shrewsbury, but he rapidly grew worse, until death came to his relief. His record is with that of "the faithful in Christ Jesus."
Rev.Hope Bainwas a Scotchman by birth, from Aberdeen. His father, once an officer in the British navy, removed with his family to Maryland, and died in Baltimore in 1812. The son served during the war of 1812, young as he was (fifteen), as a member of a Baltimore company of volunteers attached to the 5th regiment, and was in the battles of Bladensburg and West Point. He was at first a Presbyterian, and member of that church for many years. In 1830 he was appointed an agent to labor in West Tennessee, and in the valley of the Mississippi, for the American Sunday-School Union. He became a Universalist in 1847, and was ordained a preacher at Norfolk, Va., in 1848. He was for fifteen years a teacher in Virginia. He moved to North Carolina, in December, 1851, and preached, before the war of the Rebellion, in twenty-six counties, and, after the war, in six other counties. Hislast sermon was in Goldsboro, in 1875. Anticipating his approaching departure, he said that at the age of eighty-one he could not expect to remain here much longer, nor did he desire to. He was nearing a home where he should be united to loved ones gone before. He was widely known in North Carolina. He was a Union man in the strictest sense, thoroughly loyal to the government during the late war, which alienated from him many of his former associates and hearers, but he never wavered in devotion to his country, and to the cause of the Christian Gospel. Although without pecuniary resources, he continued to preach wherever there was an opening, and with little or no remuneration labored faithfully and steadfastly in the ministry as long as health and strength lasted. His faith uplifted and sustained him as he passed from these earthly scenes.
Rev.Woodbury M. Fernaldwas for several years a prominent preacher with the Universalists. He was born in Portsmouth, N. H., March 21, 1813, and died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 10, 1873. He was ordained at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1836. In 1838 he was pastor at Cabotville (now Chicopee), Mass. In 1840 and 1841 he was located at Newburyport, and while there published a volume entitled "Universalism against Partialism," an able statement of the contrast set forth. He was next in Stoneham as pastor for three years. In 1854 he removed to Boston, and becoming interested in the works of Swedenborg and the writings of Andrew Jackson Davis, he was after a while ordained as a Swedenborgian minister. He was so fascinated by the New Church doctrines as to become alienated from his former associates and lost to their ministry. He published,in 1854, a "Compendium of the Theological and Spiritual Writings of Swedenborg," and in 1859, "God in His Providence," in which he implicitly renounced the notion of "the eternity of Hell," and put forth a Universalist view of human destiny, turning Swedenborg's principles against the Seer's own conclusions, and making those principles the ground of an assurance of Universal Restoration. He published afterwards other works, evincing much ability. His sincerity was never doubted.
Rev.Caleb Perin Mallorywas a minister of the Universalist faith in Canada during most of his life. He died at Huntingville, P. Q., July 13, 1882, aged seventy-one.
He was born in Eaton, C. E. His early training was under the influence of the theology after the kind taught by Calvin and Arminius. Being of a thoughtful and studious disposition, however, he came to see in the teachings of the New Testament strong and unmistakable evidences of the Gospel of Universalism. When about thirty years old he appeared before the public as an advocate of it. Rev. L. H. Tabor, who officiated at the funeral, gave the following account:—
"As nearly as I can learn, he preached some three years in various places to good acceptance, and was ordained at Glover, Vt., Sept. 19, 1843, and in just one year from the time of ordination (Sept. 19, 1844), was installed at the request of several brethren residing in as many of the eastern townships over which he was installed. For several years he preached regularly at Huntingville and other places in the vicinity, and for over forty years had attended funerals and weddings, baptizing children and adults as the disciples of Jesus, the Saviour of the world. He was a Christian reformer,ready for every good word and work. No one man could have been taken from that community whose departure will be felt more. And when we saw the multitude that gathered at his burial, with weeping eyes, we were led to say,'Behold, how they loved him.' It was said, by good judges, that there were a thousand people at his funeral, some coming the distance of fifty miles.
"Brother Mallory was a man of great energy of character, often travelling and preaching under such adverse circumstances as would have discouraged others of less inherent power. His compensation for services has been comparatively small, but, sustained by the ministry of the reconciliation, he fainted not, occupying till the Master came."
In the yearly Universalist "Register," the names of nearly thirty women are given as ministers,—evangelists or with pastorates,—in the Universalist Church.[50]Among the number of those who have served in this capacity, the record is made of the death of the following:—
Mrs.Elvira J. Powers. She came into the ministry from the Canton Theological School as a licentiate of the New York Convention. At the end of six months she was compelled to give up her work on account ofill-health, and was not able afterwards to resume it. During the war of the Rebellion, in the office of nurse, she rendered good service, and wrote an interesting book of her experiences, entitled "Hospital Pencillings." A friend and former pastor speaks of her personal worth in very strong terms. "In fidelity to her conviction of duty, in her industry, zeal, and integrity, in her constant sacrifice of the superficial and temporal for the profound and eternal, her life was a great success." She died in Worcester, Mass., Sept. 21, 1871.
Rev.Fanny Upham Roberts, daughter of Frederic and Hannah R. Cogswell, both of whom were preachers in the "Christian Connection," was born in South Berwick, Me., in June, 1834. She joined the Congregational Church in Northwood, N. H., and was for some time a superintendent of a Baptist Sunday-school. She had, however, from a child been acquainted with the Universalist faith. In 1870 she began to give lectures in public on lyceum topics, and not long afterwards commenced preaching in Kensington, N. H., and Wells, Me. In the spring of 1871 she removed to Kittery, Me. (where she had been ordained), and preached there until April, 1875, when from loss of voice she resigned her post, and went to Minnesota, hoping to regain her health. But the change of climate failed to arrest her disease, and she steadily declined until death came to her relief. She died in Winona, Minn., Aug. 26, 1875. Her friends testify to her vigor of mind, her goodness of heart, and the graceful modesty and sweet womanly dignity that ever shone out in her life. An intelligent member of the Universalist congregation of Portsmouth, N. H., once informed the writer that in listening to herdiscourses, as he did occasionally, he was forcibly reminded of the logical clearness and strength of the elder Ballou.
Rev.Prudy Le Clerc Haskellwas born in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 6, 1844, and died in Oxford, O., Dec. 27, 1878. In her youthful days she was thoughtful, intelligent, and studious. Her parents were Universalists in sentiment, and her mind was impressed by the influences of their religious faith. An only brother, who had intended to enter the Universalist ministry, died in a Southern prison during the war, and she felt herself called to take the place which he would have filled. She was ordained at Madison, Ind., Oct. 14, 1869, where she preached two years, and succeeded in gathering the scattered remnants of a former congregation into a living form. She then went to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and labored there successfully for two years, greatly endearing herself to the people; but the climate proving unfavorable to her, she was obliged to leave and return to the home of her parents in Aurora, Ind. She was afterwards settled at Mt. Carmel, Ind., at Jeffersonville and Newtown, O., and at Covington, Ky. She was an attractive and interesting preacher, and very popular as a pastor. While residing in Covington, she was united in marriage to Mr. Cassius L. Haskell, who afterwards entered the ministry. She had been married but a single year when her earthly life ended. The remembrance of an evening with her at a meeting in Mt. Carmel, O., is very vivid in the mind of the writer. She had been deeply interested in a new church organization there, and had induced a good number of young believers to become members. Her welcome and counsel to them were pervaded with the Christian spirit.