THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 285.8 P93h iwnqk HisrosiMi mm Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign http://www.archive.org/details/hampshirecolonycOOhamp LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Foreword In collecting material for this history much use has been made of papers written for various anniver- saries by Mrs. Julia R. Phelps, Mrs. Clara R. Norton, Mrs. Emily S. Colton, Dr. Flavel Bascom, Rev. E. G. Smith and Mr. Elijah Smith, an old diary of Mr. Chaun- cey D. Colton and a few old letters. The authors of these have long been dead. The record books of the Church have furnished definite dates and present day knowledge has brought the work up to date. All of those who preached and prayed in the old days have gone to be with the Lord. Most of the next generation have followed them. What they won with toil and tears we have inherited, but surely death did not destroy their interest in and love for the old church. If Heaven rejoices over a repentant sinner, then heavenly citizens must know something about earthly events. "Wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sins that so easily beset us and run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith", and be able to say to them some day, "We have faithfully carried on the work that you began." I 008225 ^cknoipledgments There is no enterprise which has not behind it some guiding mind. This volume owes its exis- tence principally to the vision of one who has long been a vital force in the church. To Ella W. Har- rison the church gratefully acknowledges its in- debtedness for the greater part, both spirit and substance, of this volume. To the Historical Committee sincere thanks are expressed for the careful research that makes this record authentic. To T. A. Fenoglio, who has successfully man- aged the financing of this publication, the church owes a debt of gratitude. Grateful acknowledgment is made to those who have given of their time and service transcrib- ing page after page of manuscript: Edna B. An- derson, Gerda Bouxsein, Vivian Conkling, Helen Eastman, T. A. Fenoglio, Gilbert Oberschelp, Edith Sharp, Ethel Sharp, Frances Spaulding, Hazel Wickey. Table of Contents In the Beginning Page 1 The Faith of Our Fathers - 33 The House of Worship 43 The Work of the Kingdom 57 The Secular Affairs of the Church 99 Laborers in the Vineyard 107 The Members of the Church 141 Echoes of a Century - 171 In the Beginning EARLY HISTORY THE INDEPENDENT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH THE DOVER CHURCH THESE ALSO SERVED DONATION PARTIES OF YORE MEMORIES OF AN OLD MAN PRAYER OF OWEN LOVEJOY IN THE BEGINNING EARLY HISTORY 1831 - 1835 In the early years of the nineteenth century New Eng- land people were greatly interested in the little known west. Men who returned from investigating tours told wonderful tales of fertile soil unencumbered by stones or trees, government land that could be purchased unbelieve- ably cheap. Young men were advised to "go west and grow up with the country." On February 9, 1831, the fol- lowing notice appeared in the Hampshire Gazette: "ILLINOIS COLONIAL ASSOCIATION A meeting of the above association will be holden at WARNER'S COFFEE HOUSE, Northampton, (Massachusetts) on Wednesday, the 16th at 10:00 A. M. Persons desirous of uniting with them are invited to attend this meeting. Per order of Committee. D. B. Jones, Sec'y." February 23, 1831, this meeting is reported: "At a meeting of the Illinois Colonial Association held at Warner's Coffee House, last week, it was agreed by a number of as- sociates to remove to some part of that state in the ensu- ing spring. Some of the principles of the association by which its members are governed may be understood by the THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH following preamble to their constitution adopted at this meeting : 'Whereas the subject of settling the valley of the Mississippi by colonies of industrious and moral men from the Atlantic States is viewed to be of vast importance to the future of the inhabitants of that valley and to the common good of our country by many of the sons of the Pilgrim Fathers of New England, and — 'Whereas a number of persons in the old county of Hamp- shire are desirous of emigrating to some part of the State of Illinois for the purpose of better providing for themselves and their families, provided the privileges of a social, moral and relig- ious character which they have now, and which they highly value, can be made secure to them in their future residence; 'Now, Therefore, for the purpose of accomplishing the above objects, the undersigned do form themselves into an association and adopt the following constitution.' " Unfortunately the constitution has been lost. The idea of organizing a church before going west had taken strong hold of some minds. Ebenezer Strong Phelps, a deacon in the Northampton church, was prime man in this. Cir- culars were sent out stating that "it was not so much to promote the private interests of its members as to advance the cause of Christ by planting religious institutions in the virgin soil of the west and aiding the cause of Christian education in its various departments." When a number of people had offered themselves as candidates for member- ship in this emigrant church a council was called to act upon the proposition. The following are the minutes of the council : "Northampton, March 23, 1831. "An ecclesiastical council was convened at the house of Dea. Ebenezer S. Phelps by letters received from certain persons desir- ous of being organized into a Congregational church previous to their removal to the Western Country. Rev. S. Williams and Rev. I. S. Spencer, pastors of the church at Northampton, and brother Lewis Strong delegate. Rev. Lyman Coleman, pastor of the church at Belchertown, and Deacon I. Towne, Delegate, and Rev. Benj. H. Pitman, Pastor of the Church at Putney, Vt., were present as members of the council. Rev. H. Pitman was chosen ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Moderator and Rev. L. Coleman, Scribe. Prayer was offered by Moderator. The following persons there presented letters cer- tifying to their regular membership with their respective Christian churches and recommending them to be received into the church proposed to be organized by this council. Deacon Ebenezer S. Phelps and Anne, his wife, from Northampton, Amos C. Morse and Lucinda, his wife, Elisha Woods and Abigail, his wife, and Samuel Brown and Daniel Brown from the church at Belcher- town. Doctor Nathaniel Chamberlain from the church at Putney, Vt., Levi Jones and Louise, his wife, from the South church at Amherst, John Leonard from the church at Warwick; Alvah Whitmarsh and Naomi, his wife, from the first church at Spring- field; Maria Lyman from the first church at South Hadley; and Elijah Smith, Clarissa Childs and Sylvia Childs from the church at Conway. Daniel Brown and Louisa Jones were absent. The others then present submitted to the council a Confession of the Faith and Convenant which were approved by the council where- upon, it was voted to proceed immediately to the house of public worship to organize the proposed church and that the services be performed as follows: that Rev. Mr. Coleman offer the introduc- tory prayer; that Rev. Mr. Spencer deliver the Sermon and that the Confession of Faith and Love must be presented to the church; that the fellowship of the churches be expressed and the concluding prayer be offered by Rev. Pitman. "Proceeded to the house of worship where the services were per- formed according to announcement and the above named persons there present were duly constituted a Church styled the Hamp- shire Colony Church. Voted to adopt the above as the record of the doings of this council and adjourn. Benj. H. Pitman, Moderator. (A true copy.) Attest: L. Coleman, Scribe." This council was held in the forenoon. In the afternoon, after the organization of the church, the Rev. Ichabod Spencer preached a sermon on the text "Fear not little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." After the sermon the Lord's Supper was ad- ministered to a large congregation of communicants. It was a session of peculiar solemnity and called forth deep sympathy from all who attended the long session. A col- lection of $54.00 was taken to supply the new church with vessels for the communion table. The Hon. Lewis Strong, THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH delegate from the Northampton church to this council, said, "The meeting house, at the organization was thronged and the public services, conducted mainly by Dr. Spencer himself, were of the most thrilling interest. Never shall we entirely forget the wise counsels he imparted to that little company of believers, nor the earnestness with which he implored, in their behalf, the blessing of God, nor the melting of hearts throughout every portion of that great assembly, as in their name and with deep devotion he bade the departing ones a final and most affectionate adieu." The spiritual influence of this movement was very evi- dent when one hundred and thirty newly converted young people met in the pastor's home for a last good-bye to the Pilgrims. Quoting from Dr. Bascom's and Rev. E. G. Smith's papers written for the fiftieth anniversary: "They did not all come west at the same time or by the same route. The main body of the colony met in Albany and embarked in a canal boat, the 7th of May 1831, with Cotton Mather of Hadley, for Captain." We are not surprised that such a company of passengers and a captain with a name so ven- erable and historic should enter into contract not to travel on the Sabbath. The first Sabbath they spent in Amsterdam, probably without any design of imitating their Pilgrim Fathers, who made Amsterdam, in Holland, their first resting place after leaving Old England. They held religious services on board their boat, which attracted the attention and excited the curiosity of citizens. The captain's explanation to curious inquiries was that he had a company of missionaries on board. The next Sabbath found them in Buffalo. They had expected to find a schooner there, bound for Chicago, but were disappointed. Taking a steamboat to Detroit, they there found a schooner about sailing for Chicago, but could not find room on board for themselves or their goods. They contracted for their goods to be taken on the next trip, two or three months afterwards, and they set out by land with ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS hired teams for Chicago. Leaving Detroit Monday morning, May 25, they spent the next Sabbath at Sturgis' Prairie. While there, one pair of their hired horses died, compelling the eight young men of the company to travel on foot. Having journeyed half a day in this manner, they all arrived at Mottville, on the St. Joseph river. Up to this time they had no definite locality selected for their future home. A Mr. Jones had come out the autumn before to explore the country and find a suitable place, but no definite report from him had reached them. But now meeting a traveler from Illinois they learned that Mr. Jones was at Bailey's Point, on the Vermillion River, where he had built a double cabin for the reception and temporary accom- modation of the colonists. Knowing now that their destin- ation was near the Illinois River, the young men conceived the plan of finishing their journey by water. They accord- ingly purchased two canoes, lashed them together, put their trunks aboard and embarked themselves for a trip down the St. Joseph. It is a rapid stream, and they reached the port- age, a distance of sixty-five miles, in twelve hours. Here they hired an ox team to transport themselves, their canoes and baggage five miles to a swamp or lake which is the source of the Kankakee, one of the branches which form the Illinois river. From that point to Ottawa, they were told, was 160 miles. They expected to make that distance in three or four days, and laid in provisions accordingly. Reembarking on Tuesday afternoon, they soon found navigation on the Kankakee Swamp and River much less rapid than on the St. Joseph. Saturday night overtook them some distance above the point where the Kankakee and DesPlaines unite to form the Illinois. An appearance of rain induced them to tie up to a tree for the night. When they awoke Sunday morning they found themselves lying in several inches of water in the bottom of their boats. After building a fire and drying their clothes, they reluctantly decided to travel that Sabbath THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH day, for the first time on their journey. Their provisions were exhausted, and their only rations for some time had been slippery elm and bass-wood bark, and they knew not how distant might be a human habitation, where food could be obtained. Sunday night they spent on shore in a drench- ing rain. Monday morning they embarked again under a clear sky, and soon reached an Indian encampment. There they applied in vain for food. Pressing onward, they heard a cow bell in the distance. Leaving the river and ascending the bluff, they found a cabin occupied by a white family, who could give them nothing but mush and milk. To prepare this the woman shelled some corn and ground it in a small hand mill. When the mush was made the young men did not relish it, and they ate just enough to increase rather than appease their hunger. Learning that it was now twen- ty miles to Ottawa, they pushed forward, expecting to find a hotel where they determined to rest and make up in good fare for all their privations. About sunset they saw a cabin on the south side of the river, and on inquiring how far it was to Ottawa, they were told, "This is Ottawa." And all the luxuries that that city could supply were mush and milk with some honey, and a puncheon floor for a bed ! Proceed- ing down the river, the next day, they arrived at a point opposite the present city of LaSalle. It was called Shipping Port or Crosier's Ferry and was a distance of only eight miles from Bailey's Point, their destination. That distance they soon traveled on foot and at Mr. Jones' double cabin they found the other part of their company, from whom they had separated in Michigan. These last had arrived the same day, only a few hours in advance. This was the nineth day of June, five weeks and two days from the commencement of the journey. The portion of the colony that had contin- ued with teams found the journey to Chicago exceedingly dreary and fatiguing. With much difficulty and vexatious delay, they procured other teams at Chicago to take them the remaining 100 miles to Bailey's Point. Nothing occurred 8 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS to break the monotony of this stage of their journey till they reached the Vermillion River. It was so swollen by rains that the passengers dared not ford it in their wa- gons. They found a ferry man with a log canoe or dug-out who took them across one by one, requiring them to recline on the bottom of the boat lest he upset it. At the Jones cabin they all remained some time to recuperate and gain such information as should decide the question of their future homes. On the twelfth of June, the first Sunday after their ar- rival in Illinois, a meeting was held in a log cabin in a set- tlement called Lowell, near the Big Vermillion Creek. On July 2, 1831 having agreed, finally, in accordance with the advice of their agent to locate on the prairie east and south of Bureau Creek they set out for that place across a trackless prairie. Dr. Nathaniel Chamberlin and Eli and Elijah Smith joined in buying a horse and two yoke of oxen, to re- move their families and goods across the Illinois River to Princeton (then called Greenfield). The second day they found the prairie, west of where Peru now is, so wet as to be almost impassable. Finally leaving their wagon stalled in a creek their guide undertook to pilot them to Epperson's cabin, to spend the night. Failing in the darkness to find it, they spread their blankets in a hazel thicket on East Bureau, near Maiden and slept under the open sky. The next day they started again. The order of their procession is said, by Elijah Smith, to have been thus, — Dr. Chamberlin took Mrs. Eli Smith on the horse behind him, Elijah Smith mounted on an ox with his wife behind him, Eli Smith on another ox with Major Chamberlin behind him. Thus they made their way to the log cabin of James Foristall, about two miles north of Dover. The first entry in the old church record book reads as follows: — "The Hampshire Colony Church of Christ founded at Northampton, Mass., March 23, 1831, settled on the Bu- reau River, County of Putnam, State of Illinois, July 6th, 9 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH 1831 and named the town Greenfield. The only members of said church that arrived at the above time were Nathaniel Chamberlin, Elijah Smith and his wife, Sylvia, and Mrs. Eli Smith." Other detachments came later by different routes. Deacon Phelps and family and Mr. Moore and family came the latter part of the summer by way of the Ohio Canal, down the Ohio and up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, sending their goods by way of New Orleans. Deacon Phelps and family spent seven years in Springfield before they came to Princeton. Mr. Morse located in Jacksonville, Illi- nois. He died in October, 1831. Elisha Wood came to Illi- nois in 1832 and spent two years in Tazewell County be- fore making a home here. Mr. and Mrs. Whitmarsh did not come until 1841. At the Fiftieth Anniversary Elijah Smith said: "After arriving on the Bureau we were located some miles part. We had no way of traveling except by a cart made of the four wheels of a wagon with a small platform, drawn by the patient ox, so we did not have meetings regularly, even on Sunday. In October 1831, as I was at work building my log cabin, two or three miles north of Princeton, about two o'clock P. M., Deacon E. S. Phelps and Dr. N. Chamberlin came to hold a church meeting for the transaction of busi- ness and prayer. After electing a deacon to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Morse, we had a session of prayer. While kneeling on the cold damp ground, interceed- ing with our Heavenly Father for his blessing to accompany our feeble efforts in planting the standard of the cross, on this virgin soil, we could almost hear our dear Saviour say Tear not, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.' At a meeting on November 21, 1831, a letter was granted to one of the colony who for a time located else- where. Four members were present but only one voted, since women did not then have the privilege. On the first Sabbath in May, 1832, services were held in the cabin of Eli and Elijah Smith and at the same time a concert of 10 The following record supports the opinion of many that this wood cut shows in the background the rear view of the first church. The Hampshire Colony Church as described in "The Tax Payers and Voters of Bureau County, Illinois", published in 1877 by H. F. Kett & Co.: "In the fall of 1835 the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church was built on the public square south of where the courthouse now stands. This was a two-story frame structure raised high above the ground on wooden blocks, painted white, and made an imposing ap- pearance. Deacon Elijah Wood built this church under a contract for six hundred and fifty dollars, completing the outside only, and for two years it was not plastered. A rough board pulpit and slab seats were used. This building was a great curiosity to Indians, who styled it 'the big wigwam', and it was equally so to travelers passing through the country, it being the only church on the road between Peoria and Chicago; and if we except a small one at Ottawa, it was the only one west of Chicago. This building paid a double debt, being used not only for religious meetings, but for a school, a town hall, a court-room and a place for holding abolition state conventions, etc. In 1848 this building was moved to the southeast corner of the public square, now belonging to Justus Stevens and used for a barn." ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS prayer for the conversion of the world. Before time for an- other meeting the Black Hawk War had begun and we were obliged to flee to a place of safety." The Home Missionary Magazine for February, 1834 contains this item : "Rev. Theron Baldwin on a tour through northern Illinois visited the Bureau settlement. When he preached a sermon he found the people desirous of having a a minister. They agreed to circulate a subscription paper and see how much they could raise for the support of one. Bro. Farnham starts Monday to visit the places." The same publication for May, 1834, contains a letter from the Rev. L. Farnham at Bureau Settlement. He says : "On the first of last month (Feb. 1834) we had a com- munion session. Brother Kirby assisted me. Six were ad- mitted to the church on certificate and others would have united but had not letters. This was the first session of this kind which the little church has enjoyed in this remote land. God had indeed spread a table for them in the wilderness." In the fall of 1834 Mr. Farnham again visited the church and says : "We found the little church alive and they received us gladly. In many ways they have been highly favored of the Lord. The settlement has greatly increased and has been remarkably healthy. They had not had a ser- mon from a preacher since I left, but they had regularly kept up a meeting on the Sabbath, the monthly concert for prayer, and the Sabbath school. We had communion session in December. Fourteen more were added to the church so that the membership is now twenty-four. We are making an attempt to build a meeting house and I am confident the Lord will help us through. We meet now in a private house and it is crowded every Sabbath. Many more would come if we had a house large enough to accommodate them. The church is doing all they are able to do and some who do not belong to the church have shown commendable liberality." The "frame church" was built by 1835 and Rev. Lucian Farnham was called to be pastor of the church. At last the 11 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH "colony church" was established in the "far west", with a meeting house, a pastor and a growing membership. While the Kingdom had not yet been given it, the future looked bright with promise. The following is quoted directly from a paper prepared and read by Rev. Edwin G. Smith, D. D., on the Seventieth Anniversary of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church, Princeton, Illinois, March 28, 1901: "After the Black Hawk War war cloud had passed over, Febru- ary, 1834, the church held its first sacramental sea- son, Rev. Lucian Farnham had commenced his good work with them; six members united with them. Among them Deacon Reeve of blessed memory, and Joel Doolittle and Nathaniel Chamberlin, Jr., and their wives brought strength and cheer to the little flock. Soon afterward Asher Doolit- tle and family, C. D. Colton and others came. The next year brought quite a reinforcement to their numbers and strength. Deacon Alby Smith and family and other Gouver- neur colonists were a great help and encouragement to the church in July, 1835. "That season the first Congregational house of worship in Illinois was built and with it an academical school building in true New England and Pilgrim style. From this date the church and school took on new beauty and strength. From Mr. Triplett's hotel the church graduated to its new and commodious home and from the log cabin the school house ascended to the lower story of the church building. Other interests kept pace as usual with church and school, and these pioneer enterprizes were but the forerunners of many good things. "It is no small honor to the pioneers of such a house- hold of faith as now greets us in the Congregational Year Book. At least two thousand Congregational Churches of the Pilgrim Polity in and west of Chicago are following the wake of the old Colony church. Says Dr. Bascom in his his- torical sketch (alluded to in the part not quoted.) 'Let it be 12 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS remembered that this fragment of the Hampshire Colony church, so afflicted yet not forsaken, cast down but not de- stroyed, was for two years of its history, all there was of or- ganized Congregationalism in Illinois.' And if in Illinois, surely in the west and northwest. This is honor enough for this occasion. But we have more to our credit near home. This church is preeminently a 'mother church/ She has a beautiful daughter near by that we heard from last night. One especially dear to us, viz, Dover, doubly dear to me as my first pastorate, and numbers near by and farther away that we have mothered. And we have a dear sister near by evolved from that little 'family jar.' None the less dear be- cause in the evolution she became a strong Presbyterian church. It has been a Congregational habit to do this in the past. "But we have other things to glory in. This church was the pioneer in the anti-slavery reform. The Princeton Con- gregational church was a city set on a hill in this regard and its clear light shone far and wide. Its pastor was the Tlumed Knight' in this great struggle. Here also the Emanci- pation Proclamation had its inception and its first public advocates from the pulpit and from the pen, according to Rev. H. L. Hammond. Here the township high school had its origin in our state. Such men as Bryant, Bascom and Boltwood pioneered it. Then Knox College had some of its first students from abroad from here. A member of the first graduating class was from this church and of the sec- ond and of many subsequent classes. But I forbear lest we should glory over much. It behooves us on this joyous an- niversary occasion at the dawn of the new century with grateful hearts and earnest purposes to gird on anew the armor and to strive for greater and better things in the future. God grant that we may be 'steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord'." 13 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THE INDEPENDENT CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH (NOW THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF PRINCETON.) In the early days of this church, slavery was a much discussed topic. Mr. Farnham was a strong abolitionist, as were many of the church members. From the pulpit on the Sabbath, and the pews in the prayer meetings, the "rights of man" were continually advocated. This at last became un- bearable to a number of pro-slavery members, and on Oct. 24, 1837 twenty-four of them asked for letters to form an- other Congregational Church. After mature deliberation the church adopted the following preamble and resolution: "Whereas, the above named persons, members of the Hamp- shire Colony Congregational Church at Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois, being desirous to go out from us, not consider- ing themselves of us, have this day asked dismission from our church, not giving any scriptural reason why they thus ask dis- mission from our church, and as they have already associated themselves with another body of men to build up a church and society more congenial with their views and feelings than what they now enjoy in our church, as they say, Therefore, Resolved that the aforesaid members have their request granted them and whenever they shall form themselves into a church of Christ founded on the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, we shall no longer consider them as under our watch and care and will conduct ourselves toward them accordingly." For long months a coolness existed between the two churches, but on May 2, 1840, it was voted "that we receive the First Independent Congregational Church of Princeton into fellowship with us agreeable to a discussion of the Association". On January 13, 1841, Deacon E. S. Phelps, Deacon L. Reeve and C. S. Allen were appointed a com- mittee to confer with the other Congregational Church about uniting the two churches. The records contain no further reference to the matter. Many times this union has been discussed in both churches, but as yet no definite action has been taken. They have worked in perfect har- mony for years and there seems to be no valid reason why they should not sometime become one strong church, 14 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE DOVER CHURCH "March 14, 1838. "To the Pastor and Members of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church, at Princeton. Greetings: — "Reverend and Beloved: — We the subscribers living at such a distance from your place of worship as to render it very inconvenient to attend regularly, on the means of grace with you and believing that the Glory of God, the interests of Christ's Kingdom and our own individual good would be promoted, do hereby respectfully request letters of dismission and recommendation from your particular watch and care for the purpose of such an organization. Yours, Sylvester Brigham Joseph Brigham Eliza Brigham W. Pool 0. A. Smith Lyman Stowel Amanda Stowel" These were charter members of the Dover Church, an unusually spiritual and benevolent body of believers. It has sent out many efficient workers and its contributions to church work have been surprisingly large. The Dover church enjoys the reputation of being a "Model Church". 15 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THESE ALSO SERVED When the Union Army invaded the Old South during the Civil War, it was related that a negro boy stood peer- ing through the tumbledown rail fence by the roadside, listening spellbound to the tramp, tramp, tramp of the Boys in Blue. Dazed and mystified by their numbers, as the long line vanished in the hazy morning light, the negro boy was heard to murmur, "Has you all got names?" Names of the Christian soldiers of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church of Princeton, Illinois, not enumer- ated in this record and known by too few of the rapidly depleting ranks, who, by word of mouth can tell us of the lives of comrades — many names omitted here will be en- rolled as "the blessed angel turns the pages of our years." Before it is too late this occasion furnishes an oppor- tunity to place among the records of the First Congrega- tional Church of Princeton, Illinois, some few of these names. Those mentioned may not have known "what argument their lives to their neighbors' creed had lent," but they also served. As an appropriate setting for this record, I have chosen to quote from a letter written for publication to the Bureau County Republican, in 1905, by Lewis Colton, son- in-law of Ebenezer Strong Phelps, with whom originated the idea of forming the Hampshire Colony Church in old Massachusetts, to be transplanted to the prairies of Illinois. Mr. Colton writes from Leavenworth, Kansas, and uses as his subject: HOW THE CONGREGATION WAS SEATED IN THE OLD CHURCH "As a child I had my seat up in the old gallery from which vantage ground, Sabbath after Sabbath, I watched the moving panorama below. In those days the pews were sold and usual- ly to the same one, year after year. I could have told it was wrong if the Leepers and Deacon Lazarus Reeve had gone into the pews on the south of and facing the end of the pulpit, 16 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS while Cyrus Bryant's, James Everett's and John Bubach's families took those on the north side of the pulpit. I looked for those to take seats in the south wall pews in the order of Doc- tor Anthony, Egbert Norton's, Sidney Smith's, Mr. Egbert Colton's, Deacon Caleb Cook's, Edward Winship's and Elijah Smith's families. Across the aisle I could see the families of Doctor Converse, Mr. Curtis, Sr., John Crittenden, John De- lano, Stephen G. Paddock, Rufus Carey, Seth Clapp, Cyrus Col- ton, McCayga Triplett. Occupying the other half of the body seats came always on the very front seat, Mrs. Keyes and daughters, and back of her, Deacon Ebenezer Strong Phelps, Charles Phelps, Chauncey Colton, James Smith and the Har- risons, Hinsdale Phelps, Egbert Curtis, Sr., Otis Dunbar, Joel Doolittle, the Pendletons and Proutys. "On the other wall seats there were first, Horace Winship's, Noah Wiswall's, the Lovejoy family, Elijah Dee's, John Bry- ant's, Lewis Colton's, S. D. Hindale's and Sam Dunbar's fami- lies. Other regular attendants were seated more promiscuous- ly but, in the main, you could go into the church any Sabbath morning in the fifties and early sixties and find them all seat- ed the same. "In those days the men all attended church. The doors of the pews bore the name of each one and opened and closed for the right families only. Not often did they admit an outsider. Each Sabbath morning two tall, slender men rose from each side and passed the hat. I wondered, in my child mind, if it were be- cause these two men were so near alike, so dignified and sober that they must needs preside at the communion table. Doctor Anthony and James Smith might have been brothers." From the cursory records available we glean that Deacon Ebenezer Strong Phelps brought seven children with him, four girls and three boys. He and Mr. Morse came by way of the Ohio canal, Ohio river, up the Missis- sippi and Illinois rivers, to Springfield, Illinois. They sent their goods by way of New Orleans. They arrived in Springfield, July 26, 1831. Deacon Lazarus Reeve was deacon from 1840 to 1887, deacon emeritus from 1887 to 1893 — a period of fifty-three years. Regarding him I quote from a paper written by Mrs. Emily Colton to com- memorate the sixtieth anniversary of this church : "I can 17 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH see Deacon Reeve as I saw him first on the third of July, 1835, sitting on a board with a little child on his lap. He was very modest, so much so, that when appointed deacon in 1840, he requested to be excused from serving, quoting several pasages of scripture to show his reasons for declin- ing. The church, after postponing the matter for a week, voted to give him lief to withdraw his request." Louisa Reeve, wife of Deacon Lazarus Reeve, was a member from 1836 to 1901, sixty-five years, and their daughter, Clara Reeve Norton, from 1841 to 1906, sixty-five years. She was a strong character and an energetic worker in the church and vigorously upheld its traditions. Again quoting from Mrs. Emily Colton's notes: — "Brother Eli Smith, as we called him, was one who was always at meeting and ready to testify for Christ. Doctor Chamberlin always had his own views and express- ed them decidedly, but if the brethren differed from him he acquiesced gracefully, saying, 'Very well, very well, do as you think best.' Doctor William C. Anthony was deacon thirty-eight years. When the seventieth anniversary of the church was observed not one of the original charter members was living. One child of a charter member, the youngest of Deacon Ebenezer Strong Phelps' children, Mrs. Lucinda Bubach, only one and one-half years old at the time of the journey from Northampton, was living in Princeton when the seventieth anniversary was commem- orated. She had been a member of the church fifty years at that time. The eldest son, E. Hinsdale Phelps, was a member sixty-four years. (Died 1899). Mrs. Elijah Bry- ant, mother of Sue Bryant Ferris, was a granddaughter of Asher Doolittle, who united with the church in 1834, dur- ing the pastorate of Reverend Farnham. Several in the church at the seventieth anniversary were children of those who united in 1835. Alby and Sally Hyde Smith and their son, Edwin G. Smith, and their daughter, Emily Smith Colton, were among the number." 18 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Edwin G. Smith, a graduate of Knox College in its first class, 1846, served the American Bible Society for years and was a well known figure in this church; he fre- quently addressed the congregation from its pulpit in be- half of his life work for the Kingdom. Emily Smith Col- ton and her husband, Chauncey D. Colton, — who served the church as clerk for twenty-six years, also as deacon and trustee for many years, — were untiring in their work for both the church and the Sunday school. Theirs was a home of Christian culture, their sons were college bred, and the staunch Christian influence of the Colton fireside per- meated the community life. Another daughter of Alby Smith, Mrs. Sarah Harrison, united in 1836. Her son, Richard Harrison, is now a deacon of this church. Mrs. Lucia Bascom was a daughter of Egbert Colton, who joined this church in 1835. Mrs. Julia R. Phelps, historian for the seventieth anniversary celebration, says: "Her husband, Charles P. Bascom, is held in grateful remembrance for his cheer- ful readiness to do whatever he could for the church, whether as trustee or Sunday school teacher for a class of young ladies or in supporting one part in the choir while Clarence Delano carried the opposite side. John Leeper's name was found in our list in 1835 and his son, Harvey B. Leeper, was made deacon in 1878 and was pronounced a very handy man to have around when the prayer meeting lagged. Mrs. Louise C. Olds belongs with this list; she was the only sister of John Howard Bryant and her daughter, Mrs. Sarah Mathews, was a guest of the church on its seventieth anniversary. I haven't dared begin the list of those who joined this church in 1836 least I weary your patience and therefore some highly honored names must be content to remain for the future historian to mention." From memory and from some definite facts gleaned from meager records, I again present a picture of the con- 19 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH gregation as it regularly assembled during the pastorate of Doctor Richard Edwards, 1875 to 1884, — years which witnessed a working community church at its best. In this grouping we do not have the advantage of the regu- lar seat holders year after year occupying the same seats to guide us, though many of the congregation did keep their regular pews. Many descendants of the families enumerated in the fifties and sixties were regular at- tendants through this period. Here gathered Sabbath after Sabbath, John Walters, father of Mrs. Egbert Cur- tis, whose prayers were a part of his very being and pour- ed from his lips as easily as gather the dews of evening; Deacon Lazarus Reeve, father of Mrs. Clara Norton, modest, considerate, dependable, was still here. In Novem- ber 1833, Clara Reeve, afterward Clara Norton, came with her parents to the Bryant cabin. She writes : "The Cham- berlin family with Mrs. Flint and her daughter were here then, and the Moseleys and the Musgroves on the prairie were our neighbors. I remember that our mother thought she had found good company." Remember when you walk down old South Street, now Park Avenue West, that the large elms there were set by Egbert Norton, son-in-law of Deacon Reeve, and by A. J. Haviland, in the spring of 1847. Remember also that we owe the trees in the Congregational church yard to Betsey Crittenden, mother of Mrs. Ella C. Dexter. The trees from the Eckels home to the Court House on the east side of the street are due to the energy of Mrs. Curtis, Sr., mother of Egbert and Jennie Curtis and to Mrs. Mar- tha Delano, mother of the late Clarence Delano. Both Mrs. Curtis, Sr., and Mrs. Martha Delano died in the late 70's. In an article entitled "Historic Review of Princeton" written by Mrs. Clara Norton in 1879, we find the above information, also the following: "Harriet Wiswall, one of our sisters, applied for a position during the Civil War as nurse and was accepted. She followed up the battles 20 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS with her wine and stores, sent to her from our Princeton Society, nursed soldiers in the barracks and hospitals, — in fact, gave her life for her country. It is fitting to add that before the next summer, 1862, Dr. S. A. Paddock, Captain F. B. Ferris, Lieutenant Wright Seamon and Major N. B. Page were brought home and laid in our beautiful Cemetery." To return to the Sunday congregation: Here were Mrs. Elijah Bryant and family, Mrs. Bryant — a daughter of Sidney Smith. With her calm, winning smile she was beloved by all the people. The Everett girls were staunch and intellectual and highly appreciated for their genuine worth. The last of the family, Miss Mary Everett, died just recently (1930). Mrs. Mary Jones, the mother of Mrs. Louise J. Mosely, was a regular attendant and was always a liberal supporter, not forgetting to assist the younger groups to meet their quota on church pledges. She was a remarkable woman with a very unusual memory and lived to the age of 101 years. Mr. and Mrs. Egbert Curtis always welcomed strangers and stood for the best in the church and community life. Mrs. Curtis' work lives on in the worthy activities of the Elizabeth Curtis Guild. What a noble tribute! Few were the Sunday mornings that found vacant the pews occupied by Mrs. Worthing- ton, also a Curtis, or Miss Jennie Curtis, who was for years a teacher and long the secretary of the Sunday school. A regular attendant also was Nan Walters, whose rich alto voice will be remembered by many. Regular attendants also were Mrs. Seth Clapp and Mrs. Lemuel Carey. They were sisters and practical saints who liberally contributed to the church and with equal liberality gave themselves to rearing and educating several young people whose ma- ture lives are doing noble credit to their early Christian environment. Mr. and Mrs. Nat. Simons were helpers with the music and Mrs. Simons was long a quiet worker in the women's organizations. Some still remember Mrs. Mary 21 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Talbot Dunbar, mother of Camilla Dunbar Richardson and Mary Dunbar Ferris, also mother of Charlie Dunbar, a figure in the church and community life for over fifty years. Charlie Dunbar was known and appreciated, far and wide, by young and old alike. His Sunday school class in the Congregational Church was historic. The John Richardson family, the Harry Ferris family, the Parker Newells, the Gilman T. Smiths were present regularly. Their devoted activities permeate the history of the various church organizations through many fruitful years. No mention of the organization, during these years, would be complete without the following: — Mrs. Lydia An- thony, a worker and staunch believer, whose responses in the church services still reverberate in the memories of many of us ; Mr. and Mrs. Catlin Cook, who gave and pray- ed and gave still more to the work of the Kingdom ; Mr. and Mrs. Geo. R. Phelps, whose church life always came first; Dr. and Mrs. E. J. Schenk and family, liberal givers and earnest helpers in all needful enterprises; Mrs. Lydia Smith, mother of J. Clyde Smith — in later years she be- came Mrs. Solomon Robinson. Her faith never failed and her helpful interest in her church never flagged. We recall, also, Mrs. James Ellis and daughters, one of whom, Miss Orpha, so faithfully and quietly helpful, is still carrying on. Miss Mary Denham, daughter of Mrs. Owen Lovejoy, was ever loyal to the family traditions and to the support of the Congregational Church of Princeton. Always faithful prayerful workers and regular attend- ants were the Winships, the Pendletons, the Porters, the Morrises, the Hinsdale Phelps — not leaders, but thinkers and doers, everyday Christians whose places are hard to fill. We would not omit the family of our pastor, Dr. Rich- ard Edwards — his loyal, well-poised wife, his gifted daugh- ters, the Misses Nellie and Mary, fine minds and personali- ties; his sons, Nicholas and George; all were workers in their father's church and parish, while the two younger 22 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS children, Florence and Owen, loved their childhood in Princeton and have returned occasionally to visit their old haunts. Remembered among the congregation, though not members of the church, but generous contributors and fre- quent attendants, were Mr. John H. Bryant, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Bates, Mrs. Mary Latimer and daughters, the Misses Mary and Alice Latimer, the Whipples, the Charles Bald- wins, the Richard Skinner family and others. The children from many of these families attended the Sunday school and their lives have been fondly followed by many faithful workers in the Princeton Congregational Church. I can, in memory, see Dr. Edwards in the pulpit on Sunday mornings as he stood before his congregation, em- phasizing his scholarly well written sermons with an occa- sional "so I think, brethren and sisters, so I think," as he rose for an instant on his toes then came firmly down on his heels for still further emphasis. It was a stirring sight and a thrilling experience for the young people to mingle with this fine audience as it touched elbows in the wide center aisle, ushered out by the strong, almost martial music of Sam Bowlby's pipe organ postlude. More recent history is largely covered by the reports of the various church or- ganizations and is better classified. As I record the above mentioned names, some of whom I am gratefully thankful to have known, they seem to say to us who still work on: "Let us do our work as well, Both the unseen and the seen, Make the house where God may dwell Beautiful, entire and clean." Jessie A. Phelps. September, 1930 23 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH DONATION PARTIES OF YORE In our church a donation party was a celebration of yearly occurrence, and usually in the fall after the har- vest had been gathered and the crops brought in. These parties were looked forward to with great anticipation and interest. They were planned during Indian summer be- fore the fall rains set in to make the roads all but im- passable, which they often were either from mud or dust which made the effort of getting to town a real under- taking. All details for the coming festival must be made on the previous Sabbath for there were no telephones nor other quick and convenient method of communication. To spare a working horse, even if there was an idle boy around, was not to be thought of. The committee had mat- ters well in hand. What each family would bring in the way of food to be eaten for supper the night of the gath- ering, was definitely set down and a slip given to the head of the families who had promised, because there must be no mistake. A lack of food would be an eternal disgrace. There are some amusing traditions of a certain woman who knew how to squeeze a ham-bone, but didn't her hus- band water his barrel of whiskey? Another tale, — though I for one never believed it — was of one sister who took the minister's wife a shirred plaid silk bonnet covered with a green veil. But the veil was not thick enough to conceal the combinations of colors underneath. If the dainty and fastidious wife of the pastor found it difficult to be grac- ious in her thanks, the children of the family could use it in private theatricals. What cooking was put into these feasts ! That is what they were: Headcheese, sausages, ham, pork-roast with applesauce, pies, cake, especially dough cake, and raised doughnuts. Surely none such now a days! The Deacon brought the apples, pop-corn and cider. More than his 24 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS share? Of course, but that was his way. And, if during the year he neglected to leave his frequent supply of ap- ples, nuts, especially black walnuts, at the parsonage, the children did not hesitate to drive to his house to remind him of the omission. Dear kindly Deacon! His reward should be great and doubtless it is. Ample as the supper was, there were packages mark- ed 'Tor the minister to take home." In addition to food, there were specimens of dainty needle work on night-gown, chemise, and sometimes on those superfluous articles known as pantalettes. Jokes and games were allowed on the occasion of these parties. The writer remembers one occasion when she was thoroughly frightened by what was intended as only a pleasantry. She, a child of five or six, was sitting on the floor munching one of the good deacon's apples when another deacon called out: "Clear the track!" At the same time he threw a large doll dressed as a negro with a purple calico dress and a yellow turban directly in- to the face and lap of the child, who gave forth shriek after shriek, and refused to be comforted until the sister, who was always first to help a child in trouble, gathered the frightened youngster in her arms to be comforted by a piece of loaf-sugar, that unusual treat. It was consid- ered a rare joke that the child of a pronounced abolitionist should be afraid of a negro in any shape. Throughout the year these people were bound together by the spirit of helpfulness. All the neighbors knew which family was butchering; who was to have those unusual guests, visitors from the east; whose turn it was to have the dressmaker for the yearly sewing; who needed help to get the hay under cover before the rain should spoil it. In all emergencies the neighbors were on hand, but perhaps sickness brought out the greatest amount of sympathy and helpfulness. It was expected that the immediate family could care for the patient during the day, but for night service the neighbors would volunteer, and during long 25 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH sieges of fever the neighbors for miles around would con- tinue this service. Appreciation for such kindness has been handed down to the second and third generation. Returning to the donation parties: When the evening closed it was with music, which began with secular music but ended with the grand old hymns with which all were familiar. And last when the signal was given each bowed his head to listen to a suitable and comforting prayer. Who that ever heard that voice can ever forget its sweet, strong magnetic and convincing quality? We of the family have often heard of the Lovejoy eye, which was blue or black according to the degree of excitement and the demands of the occasion, but to me memory comes forward with echoes of the most lovable, loving and far reaching voice of all memories. "And so beside the silent sea I wait the muffled oar; No harm from Him can come to me On ocean or on shore. "I know not where His islands lift Their fronded palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care." Sophia Lovejoy Dickenson. 26 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS MEMORIES OF AN OLD MAN January, 1930 The three buildings that I remember have stood on the site where the present church stands; I have no recol- lection of the building that stood somewhere south of the Courthouse. My first recollection of going to church is this: Some member of the family said, "This will be the last Sunday." That was good news to me. But no; it was only the last Sunday that Father was to preach. I was greatly disap- pointed to know that the Sabbath was to continue forever. The opinions of a six year old boy are not weighty. Every one went to church: none were too old, none were too young; the old ones coughed, the young ones cried. This church was oblong. The pulpit was at the west end, the choir at the east end. The musical instrument was not musical, only a melodeon. During the singing the congregation rose, turned around facing the choir. The principle feature of the choir was the Smith girls, daugh- ters of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Smith. These sisters lived in the country and were called "the prairie birds". One of the pupils — a boy, of course — said, "It's a dull day in school when the prairie birds are absent." The box-stoves furnished what heat there was. In winter these stoves became so hot that no one could get near enough to warm himself. Stove pipes ran the length of the room and dripped creosote. Many a good bonnet was spoiled thereby. The church service began at 10:30 and lasted till 12 o'clock. The sermon was sixty minutes long; a minister who did not preach an hour did not earn his salary, which was $600 a year. After the morning service there was an intermission of an hour for lunch — there was no luncheon in those days — then Sunday-school, then another sermon and home for dinner. Everyone knew he had been to church and that he had had enough. Later an evening serv- 27 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH ice was substituted for the afternoon session. In this church each pew had a door which was nar- row, too narrow. At this time hoop-skirts were becoming fashionable; they were not adaptable to the narrow doors. While these skirts were collapsible, they were not compres- sible. The difficulty that a man might have getting into Heaven, or a camel getting through the needle's eye was nothing compared with getting a hoop-skirt through a pew door. There was one phase of going to church in which the boys were active participants. At the west of the church was a yard where the teams were hitched. With some of these teams were young colts, and when the teams were driven from the yard preparatory to going home, the colts would get mixed up. The mares would whinny, the colts would whinny and run in the wrong direction, and there was confusion worse confounded. Then the boys were ordered out as an emergency corps to chase, to separate, and to return the colts to their respective dams; no easy task, nor one suitable to Sunday-school teachings and a divine service. The feelings, the thoughts of every boy who has chased those colts cannot properly be described: nor will the boys ever forget the incident. If the adults had given less thought to theology and more to biology, and had driven mules to church, what a means of grace it would have been to the boys who chased those damless colts ! The minister's salary was six hundred dollars a year. The standard of living was not too high, and provisions given to the minister's family could be deducted from the amount pledged toward the salary. Deacon Reeve used to give the Lovejoys many apples, but no deduction on his dues was expected or accepted: indeed we children used to go to the Deacon's and boldly announce: "Well, Deacon, we've come for some apples." If the Lord loveth a cheer- ful giver, so do children. 28 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS The bell that hung in the spire was manipulated by a rope that came through the ceiling into the lobby. The end of the rope reversed and spliced into the body of the rope forming a loop, in which the sexton could put his foot, thus adding his weight to the pull on the bell. One sexton would allow the boys to climb into this loop and ride back and forth; another sexton was not interested in the uplift of the boys, neither was he popular with them. The main purpose of the bell was, of course, to call the people to church, but it had several other interesting uses : a certain number of strokes denoted the death of some member of the congregation ; other strokes denoted the sex of the deceased ; others gave the age of the departed. This last use of the bell was later discontinued, possibly due to the women members who did not wish their age broad- cast. The use of the bell had romantic and heroic phases, when at times it would clang forth a warning to the initiat- ed that a negro was caught in the meshes of the law. At this important signal the farmers would stop their teams in the furrow, strip the harness from one horse and away to the rescue, leaving the other horse to stand in the fur- row or make its way to the barn to be taken care of by the wife. In those days the women, too, were "Minute-men." This building that I've been talking about, was later rebuilt, remodled and much improved. In part it was car- peted, some of the seats were cushioned, and above all it was heated. The church was lighted by a kind of gas that would sometimes explode, but that was only an added interest. The choir was now established in the west end of the church and a pipe-organ was installed. The tunes and the hymns were majestic, heart-filling, and soul inspiring. The entire congregation used to sing — perhaps they could not sing, but they did. The authors of these hymns must have been inspired 29 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH like the prophets of old. A prayer, a hope, a faith were never more sweetly phrased than in some of these hymns: "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss Thy sov'reign will denies, Accepted at thy throne of grace, Let this petition rise. "Give me a calm, a thankful heart, From every murmur free: The blessings of thy grace impart, And make me live to Thee. "Let the sweet hope that Thou are mine My life and death attend; Thy presence through my journey shine, And crown my journey's end." — Mrs. Steele (Plymouth Collection.) "We are living, we are dwelling In a grand and awful time, In an age on ages telling; To be living is sublime. Hark! the waking up of nations, Gog and Magog to the fray. Hark! What soundeth is creation Groaning for its latter day. "Will ye play then, will ye dally, With your music and your mine? Up! It is Jehovah's rally! God's own arm hath need of thine. Hark the onset! will ye fold your Faith-clad arms in lazy lock? Up, up, thou drowsy soldier; Worlds are charging to the shock. "Worlds are charging, heaven beholding; Thou hast but an hour to fight; Now the blazoned cross unfolding, On, right onward, for the right. Oh! Let all the soul within you For the truth's sake go abroad! Strike, let every nerve and sinew Tell on ages— tell for God." —A. C. Coxe (Plymouth Collection.) 30 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS I wish you might have heard the singing of these hymns. The lofty vault gathered and rolled back the sound of anthem after anthem until no one, not even a youth, could hear these anthems and not be wrought to a plane of enthusiasm and caused to see a vision. Not incidents, not events, but people are the most cherished memories and the dearest; words, deeds, man- ners of older people impress and influence those who are younger more than anyone realizes. The impressions of youth are apt to be correct and lasting. Of the men of the church little need be said ; probably they were convenient and necessary adjuncts. Much more should be said of the women. There were two whose personality is indelibly impressed on my mem- ory: Aunt Emily Colton and Camilla Dunbar Richardson. They were good women and no celestial halo could be brighter than the one wrought by their good deeds, kind thoughts and gentle ways. Need, not name or position was the open sesame to their kind hearts and generous hands. Good people have made the Church; the Church has not made good people. A good life may pass, but the in- fluence, the goodness, the benedictions are eternal; they are the attributes of God himself, they cannot pass. "Good deeds and kind words are the flowers that bloom in the Garden of Life." E. Parish Love joy. 31 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH PRAYER BY OWEN LOVEJOY The following excerpts are from the last public prayer made by Owen Lovejoy, M. C. The occasion was the second celebra- tion of a National Thanksgiving, held at the church, Novem- ber, 26, 1863, at which time Mr. Lovejoy also made his last speech to a Princeton audience. "We render thanks to Thee, merciful Father, that Thou hast inclined the heart of our chief magistrate to call upon the people of the United States as one people to render thanks to God for His manifold benefits. We thank Thee that we are thus for the first time, with one exception, called together to praise Thee as a Nation. - - "We thank Thee, our Heavenly Father, for the blessings of a civil nature which Thou hast bestowed upon us as a people. We thank Thee that Thou hast planted this nation ; that Thou didst sift out the just seed from the Old World and scatter it upon these shores ; that Thou didst bring our fathers across a difficult and stormy sea; and that though many of them perished through wants and privations and the emnity of the savages, Thou didst not allow them to be exterminated, but that Thou has multiplied their number and extended their border from the river to the end of the earth, from ocean to ocean. We thank Thee for our speedy and unparalleled growth among the nations of the earth. We thank Thee that the forest has disappeared before the axe of the laborer, and that beautiful and happy free homes have sprung up in the path of our progress. We thank Thee that so large a portion of this land has been culti- vated, and that it has poured forth such abundance for men and beasts. We thank Thee for that freedom of thought which we have enjoyed and which is so essential to individ- ual and national development. We thank Thee that we have been permitted to worship Thee under our own vine and fig tree, that we have been permitted freedom of the lips, and that the church and school house have arisen wherever settlements have been made. We bless Thee for all Thy kindness to us." - 32 The Faith of Our Fathers THE CONFESSION OF FAITH— 1831 THE COVENANT— 1831 THE PRESENT CONFESSION AND COVENANT ON ADMISSION TO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP THE WEEK-DAY PRAYER MEETINGS SLAVERY MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTIONS THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS THE CONFESSION OF FAITH (As Adopted In 1831) I. Do you believe there is but one God, in three per- sons, The Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and that these three are the same in substance, equal in power and glory, and that this God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, in His wisdom, power, knowledge, justice goodness and truth ; that He is the maker, upholder and the righteous governor of the world? II. Do you believe that God made man upright in His own image and that man continued not in his first es- tate, but that in consequence of Adam's first transgres- sion, death hath passed upon all men, for all have sinned and that so long as we are in unbelief we are under con- demnation and liable to everlasting misery and that of ourselves we cannot purchase eternal life, merit the favor of God or prepare ourselves for the enjoyments of Heaven ? III. Do you believe that God so loved the world that He gave His own Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, that through the substitution, incarnation, obedience and death of Christ, the law is fulfilled and magnified and made honorable, justice is satisfied and redemption purchased and a new and living way is opened into the holiest place and that God can now be just and the justifier of him that be- lieveth on Jesus Christ and that He justifies freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ — that he adopts into His family of His own free and sovereign grace — that He sanctifies by the washing of regeneration 35 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH and the renewing of the Holy Ghost and that He keeps all believers by His mighty power through faith unto salva- tion and admits them to glory through Jesus Christ? IV. Do you believe that repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and a life of new and holy obedience are our reasonable and indispensable duties, and that the means of grace are to be humbly and dili- gently and faithfully used for spiritual nourishment and growth in grace? V. Do you believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, that they are the only all sufficient rule of faith and practice and that you are bound to receive them as such, to search them carefully and obey them entirely? IV. Do you believe that the sacraments of the New Testament are Baptism and the Lord's Supper, that be- lievers in regular church standing only, can consistently partake of the Lord's Supper, and that they and their chil- dren only, can consistently be admitted to the ordinance of baptism ? VII. Do you believe that there will be a resurrection of the dead and a general judgment according to the deeds done in the body and a future state of eternal reward and punishments? These questions being answered in the affirmative, the persons admitted solemnly enter into the following covenant with God and his church: THE COVENANT We now, in the presence of God and His people most solemnly and sincerely surrender ourselves, bodies and spirits to God as a living sacrifice and we do renounce the world, the flesh and the devil, fully purposing in the strength of the grace of God to abstain from every evil way and to live a life of new obedience, making the word of God our only rule and with the solemn belief that our vows are heard on high and will be received in the day of judg- 36 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS ment. We do most solemnly covenant and promise that we will constantly endeavor to promote the peace and har- mony and prosperity of the church of Jesus Christ gen- erally, and of this one especially, walking with the mem- bers in Christian faithfulness and love and that we will submit ourselves to every divine ordinance for the Lord's sake; that we will be punctual and prayerful in our attend- ance on all the worship of God's house; that we will never undervalue, despise or renounce, nor in any way neglect the seals of God's covenant, baptism and the Lord's Sup- per, but that we will renounce the sinful pleasures of the amusements of the world ; that we will strictly observe the Sabbath as holy unto the Lord; that we will lend our in- fluence to the cause of temperance and sobriety; that we will constantly observe secret devotions and so far as God may give us opportunity, family worship also; and in all things earnestly endeavor to perfect holiness in the fear of God, relying on the grace and spirit of Jesus Christ as we shall answer it, to Him at the last day. Amen. THE PRESENT CONFESSION AND COVENANT You confess your faith in God as your Heavenly Father, and in Jesus Christ as your crucified Saviour and risen Lord, and in the Holy Spirit as your divine Helper and Guide? You receive with implicit trust the promises of for- giveness and cleansing which God has made through Jesus, His son? Thus confessing, you covenant to give yourselves to the Lord Jehovah as your God, the object of your supreme promised help of His Holy Spirit, you engage to walk in affection and your portion forever; and trusting in all His way, as it is or shall be made known to you by His word or providence. Do you thus confess and covenant? Answer. I do. 37 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH ON ADMISSION TO CHURCH MEMBERSHIP May 30, 1835— Resolved, That it is expedient to examine those who have come among us, without letters, and who think they have been converted while residing with us. They shall inform the church to which they belong, confessing their sins and procuring let- ters of dismission, before being received by us. November 27, 1835, and again January 8, 1840 — Voted that three members be associated, with the deacons, to examine candidates for membership. April 2, 1873— Discussion — (laid on table). Committee to assist the pas- tor in examining candidates for membership, but this not to take the place of the usual relation of Christian experience before the whole church, unless the church so orders. November 4, 1876 — A committee of six, with the pastor, to examine candidates for church membership. January 2, 1895— Prudential Committee to examine candidates — (no other record about the method of receiving candidates). In the early days candidates were carefully examined by pastor and deacons. They were expected to attend the Preparatory Lecture, before Communion Sunday, and give something of their religious experience. They were then voted on by the Church, each candidate separately. On Communion Sunday they appeared before the Church, gave their assent to the confession of faith and were covenanted with by the church. Those who had been baptised accept- ing that ordinance as their own and those who had not, being then baptised. As time went by different methods of examination were tried. The candidates more and more often did not come before the church. They were recommended by the examining committee, and, if so recommended, were ac- cepted. Of late, one desiring church membership makes it known to the pastor of the church. He alone recom- mends him and the church receives him, nothing what- ever being stated as to religious experience. 38 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE WEEK-DAY PRAYER MEETINGS The twelfth standing rule of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church reads as follows: — "There shall be a church prayer meeting on Wednesday of each week at two o'clock P. M., at which meeting any business not requiring previous notice may be transacted. A concert of prayer for the conversion of the world shall be held on the evening of the Lord's Day next before the first Monday of each month; and a concert of prayer for the enslaved of our Land on the evening of the Lord's Day next before the last Monday of each month." In 1868 a daily prayer meeting is spoken of. In 1886 the first Wednesday in each month, prayer for prohibition was made. In 1899 the time of the meeting was changed to 7:30 P. M. Twice on election day, in 1903 and 1904, an all day prayer meeting was held pleading for the aboli- tion of the saloon. On both days prohibition won. In 1906 the day was changed from Wednesday to Thursday "to accommodate the business man." The Reverend V. Le Roy Lockwood writing of the early forties says : "The old church in these days was a live church, in all things greatly prospered, and a source of great spiritual power and usefulness. Well do I remem- ber the precious and most profitable early morning prayer meetings we enjoyed which I attended regularly, going nearly half a mile before breakfast." During Mr. Howard's pastorate, 1870-1875, there were three prayer meetings a week: Wednesday, 2:00 P. M., Thursday, 7:30 P. M., and a young people's meeting Sun- day afternoon until 1906 or a little after. On Saturday, 2:00 P. M., just before the communion service, a prepara- tory lecture was given. At this service candidates for church membership presented themselves and were voted into that membership. Later the Thursday evening meet- ing was made to do that service. At last the preparatory lecture vanished. In 1929 the mid-week meeting followed it and a monthly church night was substituted. 39 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH SLAVERY The question of slavery was a particularly live one in the early days of this church. Mr. Farnham and a ma- jority of the members were abolitionists. Mr. Love joy was also a fiery advocate of the liberation of the slave. Various recorded resolutions, found in the old books, show how strong the sentiment was. February 5, 1840, voted that the pastor be requested to appoint the monthly concern of prayer for slaves. May 10, 1843, after discussion the following resolutions were passed: December 20, 1842, voted that the money collected during 1843 are in bonds as bound with them and that all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. Therefore, Resolved, that we highly approve of the frequent presentation of the subject of Human Rights from the sacred desk as a part of the Gospel of Him who came to preach deliver- ance to the captive and to set at liberty them that are bound. The subject of church fellowship was taken up, and May 24, 1843, these resolutions were discussed and finally passed: Resolved, That to be guilty of slave-holding is to be guilty of man-stealing every day. (Gen. 39:25-28 and 40:15). Resolved, That as a Christian church we can have no fellow- ship or communion with slave-holders or with those who justify the holding of men as property. (Eph. 5:11; I Cor. 5:9, 11; II Cor. 6:14; II Ths. 3:6-14; Lev. 19:17; I Tim. 5:20; II John 9:11). December 20, 1842, voted that the money collected during 1843 at the monthly concert for the conversion of the world be for- warded to the Union Missionary Society to be appropriated for the support of those missionaries at the Sandwich Islands who have withdrawn their connection with the American Board of Foreign Missions on account of its connection with slavery. December 20, 1843, also voted that the clerk be a committee to present a resolution expressing the sense of the church on the subject of cooperating with those Boards of Missions which do not receive the price of blood. February 7, 1844. Whereas: the requirement of the word of God is "Be not part- takers of other men's sins, also to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them there- for; 40 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Resolved that it is the duty of Christians to bear decided testimony against the sin of slavery by refusing to mingle their contributions with those procured either from unpaid toil or the sale of our fellow men. Resolved, that we view with deep regret the course present- ed by the American Board of Foreign Missions in reference to slavery which makes it our duty to break away from our long cherished attachment to the Board and seek some other channel through which we can consistently communicate with the perishing heathen. Resolved, that we will cooperate only with those Boards of Missions which refuse money procured by extortion and robbery of heathen at home when offered for the purpose of sending the Gospel to the heathen in foreign fields." (A copy of these resolutions was sent to the Western Citizen to be published. The A. B. C. F. M. was also informed of this action). August 13, 1845. Voted to unite with all the churches to meet together in concert for prayer for the slave on the last Sabbath evening of each month, meeting in different churches alternately. After this the records show nothing more about slavery — but since Owen Lovejoy was the pastor of the church from 1839 to 1856, it follows that the pulpit was not silent. It is said that he talked and preached and pray- ed about Human Rights. When some of his indignant hearers walked out of church during one of his strong anti- slavery sermons, he stopped and said to their retreating forms, "I shall preach this doctrine till you like it and then I shall preach it because you like it", and he did. His home, as well as other homes of the church people, was a station on the "underground railroad". More than once the law laid heavy hands on him and his church members. In the published covenant and standing rules July, 1851, is the following: The Lord's Supper shall be administered every two months be- ginning with the first Lord's day of January. No one who justi- fies the holding of property in man shall be invited to partake with us. 41 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTIONS May 20, 1835. Resolved, That the first and second steps of discipline be taken with members of other churches residing within our bounds who live in open violation of their covenant vows, and if they refuse to hear, that their case be reported to the church to which they belong. Resolved, That we highly disapprove of the practice of Christians, or others, travelling on the Sabbath and that spe- cial notice be taken of offenses of this kind whenever they oc- cur in the church. January 13, 1841. A committee was appointed to confer with the other Congregational Church about uniting the two churches: E. S. Phelps, L. Reeve, C. S. Allen. January 14, 1846. On motion church took up a resolution presented December 31, 1845 (but not recorded) on the subject of peace which had been laid over. After some discussion, it was adopted. The substance of the resolution was that the church set apart the Sabbath evening before the 3rd Monday in each month for special united prayer for peace. January 5, 1853. Voted that the citizens of the town have the privilege of ringing the bell three times a day provided they employ a person to ring it who shall be approved by the trustees. February 13, 1867. Voted that the Communion Service be held at the close of the morning service instead of the afternoon as has been the custom. January 6, 1886. Resolved, That the rule of action of this church touching the question of divorce shall be the words of Jesus Christ, as record- ed in the 5th of Matthew, in accepting persons to church mem- bership, and also in dismissal of members who have united with the Church subsequent to the adoption of this resolution. 42 The House of Worship THE CHURCH BUILDINGS THE BELL GIFTS THE COMMUNION SERVICE THE PULPIT BIBLES OAKLAND OTHER GIFTS I fV f - / Ft, T These sketches were made under the direction of Miss Orpha V. Ellis, long a member of the Congregational Church. The details were furnished by Miss Ellis and by a few who recollect clearly the appearance of both church buildings. THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP THE CHURCH BUILDINGS The first meeting of the church in Illinois was held in the unfinished cabin of Elijah Smith, October 20, 1831. On November 21, 1831, a business meeting was held at the same place. The first Sabbath in May, 1832, services were held in the cabin of Eli and Elijah Smith. In the sum- mer of 1833 two Sunday-schools were started: one met in Dr. Chamberlin's cabin south of town, the other in John Ament's cabin, north of town. Later the two schools united and met in Mr. S. Triplet's tavern. Early in 1834 Rev. L. Farnham visited the Bureau settlement and found them very desirous of having a minister and a meeting house. By the fall of that year the settlement had so increased its numbers that a place of worship was imperative and pledges of money, labor and material made it possible. The first church edifice stood south of the west end of the courthouse and for years served as church, courthouse and academy. Elisha Ward was its builder and with Asher Doolittle, Butler Denham and Elijah Smith served as build- ing committee. The timber used was cut on Bureau Creek and hewn into sills, posts and beams after the manner of the Berkshire hills. A rude saw mill on Bureau Creek saw- ed rough boards that were used for floors, roofing boards and cornice. It was a square building with a basement in which school was held. Unshaded windows gave plenty of light in day time. Evening meetings were unusual, but, if they did occur, candles furnished the light. No mention is found of any way of heating this house. Court was held here until 1845 when the present courthouse was built. 45 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH This building was used until the summer of 1848, and in December of that year was sold at auction for $200.50 to Mr. Noah Wiswall, and was moved from the site just south of the courthouse to a lot on the south side of Park Avenue East, where it served as a barn until the summer of 1921 when it was torn down. In June, 1847, a com- mittee was appointed to present a plan for a new church. L. Reeve, Dr. Anthony, Dr. Convers and C. D. Colton were the committee. Their first report was for a building 40x58 feet to cost $2800.00. They were asked to enlarge the plan to 44x65 feet, which they did and estimated the cost at $4000.00. They were told to proceed on this basis, which they probably did, for the next entry directs the trustees to have tin eave troughs and conduits put upon the meeting-house. This was a rectangular building of brick. John H. Bryant furnished the brick. There were three windows on each side, without curtains or blinds; the walls were plastered and undecorated. Two front doors furnished entrance into the vestibule over which was the gallery where the singers sat. There were three tiers of pews, with a middle and two side aisles. The pews had doors. Two stoves, one on each side of the east end of the house, furnished heat ; the stove pipes ran the whole length of the room and entered chimneys at the west end. Wooden troughs were hung under these pipes to catch the cresote drippings that collected from burning wood. In 1864 the wood-stoves were replaced by coal-burners. By the early seventies a furnace had been installed. After candles came kerosene lamps, then for a time the church manufactured its own gas, but in 1875 began using city gas. A bell had been purchased in 1850 and the building committee was told to finish a belfry as soon as possible. After some delay this was attended to and the irreverent youngsters referred to it as the "chicken coop". In 1864 an alcove 22x12 feet was added to the west end of the building to make room for a pipe organ. This 46 THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH WITH THE SPIRE 1868 LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS alcove had an arched top, a window on each side, and seats for the choir. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Romanus Hodgman was en- gaged as architect to enlarge the house. As a result an addition to the east end of the church was built. This gave one more window on each side and a central entrance into the vestibule, on the north side of which a stairway led to the basement, and, on the south side, a small room furnished a place for the Sunday school library. A steeple provided a place for the bell and added much to the beauty and dignity of the building. Stained glass windows with circular tops were put in at this time. The estimated cost was $7000.00. Many remember the church as it now was with great pleasure. From the red carpet on the floor to the chandelier over-head, from the clock on the entrance (where the public could see it) to the high backed chairs on the pulpit platform there was an atmosphere of wor- ship. The messages of Godly ministers, the prayers of good men and women, the inspiration of consecrated Sun- day-school teachers had hallowed its walls. It served as a house of prayer and its memory is still dear to many hearts. In the spring of 1881 the floor of the basement had been lowered and commodious rooms for social and devo- tional meetings had been finished. The removal of so much earth from the support of the foundation caused the walls to crack and in 1904 the building was pronounced unsafe. Sometime before this $3000.00 had been given by the Drake legacy for a new church ; this had been added to in various ways until at the annual meeting, in January, 1902, $4000.00 was reported available for use. $5070.00 was added to this by pledges, and plans began to mature. In March, 1905, the brick building was demolished. The corner stone for the new house was laid October 22, 1905. The first service was held March 18, 1906, when more than one hundred new members were received, re- 47 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH suits of the "Sunday meetings." This house was dedicated October 11, 1908, free of debt. Its cost was about $28,000. It is built of concrete blocks, has a seating capacity of 300. Folding doors into the prayer meeting room give space for 100 more. A sloping floor leads to a corner pulpit, with a choir loft at its left. Rooms at each end of the choir loft are used for Sunday-school classes, the one at the south end having a gas grate being called the pastor's study. There are two memorial windows, one on the north given by Mr. E. P. Lovejoy in memory of his father, the Reverend Owen Lovejoy, and one on the south given by the Reverend E. G. Smith in memory of his father and mother, dear Alby and Sally Hyde Smith. Small stained glass windows furnish plenty of light by day and elec- tricity makes daylight at night. Furnace heat gives com- fort in winter. The prayer meeting room on the east side of the church is a most inviting room and is also used for the Junior Department of the Sunday-school. In the basement there are dining rooms and kitchens that are also used for Sunday school classes. The small rooms are fitted up for the Primary Department of the Sunday- school. The bell tower on the northeast corner of the church was made higher in 1911 and the Minnie Coles- berry clock installed. A bronze tablet on the north wall of the vestibule records the date and donor of the clock. A bronze tablet on the west wall gives the date of the organization of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church and the names of the eighteen charter members. A marble tablet on the right of the pulpit platform is in memory of Lora Simons Carey, a daughter of the church who died in Turkey while in the service of the A. B. C. F. M. The pulpit that stood in the brick church was kept as well as the three tall backed pulpit chairs. An old horse- hair sofa that now stands in the pastor's study was at one time the pulpit seat. The communion table of the brick 48 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS church stands in front of the platform and is still used for that service. In the summer of 1929 the outside of the foundation walls were waterproofed to insure more sani- tary conditions. For thirteen years the frame church sheltered the brave men and women who had sacrificed so much to es- tablish it in this new country, then, the membership having increased in number and wealth, the brick church was built, this too called for sacrifice. Some who borrowed money that it might be financed paid interest on that money as long as they lived. For fifty-eight years it stood, a monument of loyalty to freedom, temperance and the gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. For a little more than a quarter of a century this third house of worship has called to the children and grandchildren of its pioneer members, urging them not to forget the faith of their fathers. HOUSES OF WORSHIP CHANGE AS THE YEARS GO BY BUT THE MESSAGE IS ETERNAL. 49 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THE BELL Through Mr. Love joy's efforts a bell was purchased in 1849. Mr. Justus Stevens was commissioned to buy it and Mr. Love joy himself went on to Troy, New York, to make sure its tone was satisfactory. It was shipped to Hennepin by boat, Captain Warren in charge, and was hauled by wagon to Princeton. It was not hung at once and a quar- tette of fun loving young men decided to hasten matters. The bell stood on the platform in front of the church and one dark night these boys took it out to the edge of town. By methods unknown they managed to mount it, and, at four o'clock in the morning the startled citizens heard the first ringing of the Congregational bell. In January, 1850, the trustees were instructed to furnish a bellfry. One who saw this structure many times said "it looked like a chicken coop." On January 5, 1853, it was voted that the citizens be permitted to ring the bell three times a day provided a ringer satisfactory to the trustees was found. It was long known as the "Lovejoy bell". Early in the nineties the bell was cracked and in 1897 it was recast. When it was again hung in the church tow- er, the Ladies' Aid, through whose efforts it had been re- stored, gave a reception. For this program Mr. John H. Bryant wrote the following poem: 0, brave Old Bell! for many a year, Thy voice rang out in music here, Rang out against oppressions wrong, Rang out for Freedom bold and strong. Within these walls, for truths Divine, A voice in harmony with Thine, Rang like trumpet wild and free, Against the curse of slavery. 50 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS And shall their memory be lost, Who chose the right at fearful cost, When contumely, scorn and wrath, And prison walls beset their path? But years passed on, until at last, The Avenger's lightning bolt was cast, And the foul monster prone in death, Lay blasted by the Almighty's breath. O, Glorious Bell! Thy power renewed, With pristine tone again imbued, Long may thy voice deep, bold and clear Ring out for Right and Freedom here. — John Howard Bryant. Three times the bell has called men to arms, 1861, 1898 and 1917. When Lee surrendered and on Armistice day it sounded a jubilee. It tolled off the years of many of the old members as well as the briefer days of many soldier boys. When the clock was installed in 1911 the bell was called upon to report the message of its dial, and today every hour and every half -hour it speaks: "as if like God, it all things saw, It calmly repeats those words of awe, — 'Forever — never ! Never — forever' ! " 51 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THE COMMUNION SERVICE At that first meeting, in Northampton, Massachusetts, a collection of $54.00 was taken to supply the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church with a suitable communion service. Doubtless it was purchased before they came west for Matson's History of Bureau County says that "during the Black Hawk war it was left in the cabin of Elijah Smith and was stolen. After the war, when the prairie had been burned, one part of the set was found on West Bureau Creek much damaged by the burning of the grass." It must have been repaired, for so far as is known it was used until 1874 when it was given to the African M. E. church of Princeton. All efforts to trace it since then have proved fruitless. In 1874 a new service of two ewers, four goblets and four plates took its place. These, with the exception of one goblet, are in the deacon's box in the church. Since 1906 individual cups have been used. A table "suitable for the communion service" was pur- chased in 1851. This table with a chair used by the Rev- erend Owen Lovejoy was given to E. P. Lovejoy on March 19, 1914. There is no record of the purchase of the table now in use. It was used for some years in the brick church. 52 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS PULPIT BIBLES In July, 1839, Deacon Winship was appointed "to as- certain whether there were any funds in the old Bible So- ciety to defray the expense of a Church Bible." No other mention is made of this, but we have an old Bible that shows much use and was published in 1834. It is probably the Pulpit Bible used by the Hampshire Colony Congrega- tional Church. Another Bible in our possession has this inscribed on the fly-leaf: "Presented to the Congregational Church of Princeton by the ladies of the congregation, Apr., 1850." There must have been other Bibles, but they and their history have vanished. In 1921 the book in use was very shabby, and Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Harrison put another in its place. In December, 1929, Mr. Edwin Chamberlin sent to the church, a fine large Bible that had belonged to Mrs. Rufus Carey, his aunt, a devoted member of this church for many years. It bears this inscription: "December 10, 1919. This Bible is presented by Edwin C. Carpenter of Chicago, Illinois To the Princeton Congregational Church in memory of Estella Eliza Carpenter Born in Princeton, Illinois, September 20, 1859 United with this church in the year 1872 Entered into rest February 2, 1883." 53 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH OAKLAND CEMETERY On December 30, 1836, a little son of Rev. Lucian Farnham died and was buried on land belonging to his father. His grave was the first one made in Oakland cemetery. On October 26, 1842, Mr. Farnham deeded* two and half acres of land, including the little grave, to the church for a burying ground. On April 22, 1852, he added** one and a half acres to this gift. The care of this property is often referred to in old record books. On October 4, 1848, the trustees were instructed to "lay off lots" and offer them for sale. In June, 1862, they were to confer with the town coun- cil about the burying ground, and on November 11, 1863, the church leased it to the City of Princeton for fifty years. In July, 1869, deeds to lots were given and a list of early deed holders can be found in the trustees' records for 1847-1863, page 154. On November 19, 1914, the church voted to ***deed the cemetery to the City of Princeton for the consideration that it be always maintained as a cemtery with the further provision that the lot on which the Rev. L. Farnham is buried be placed under perpetual care. With the passing of the years scores from the many who have at some time made Princeton or Bureau County their home, have been returned to rest in beautiful Oak- land. Among the numbers are six former pastors of this church. They are: Rev. Nathaniel Abbott Keyes, 1856. Rev. Owen Lovejoy, 1864. Rev. Lucian Farnham, 1874. Rev. Flavel Bascom, 1890. Rev. Elihu Hillis Votaw, 1902. - Rev. Harold E. Parr, 1918. * Deed recorded in Deed Book D, p. 381. ** Deed recorded in Deed Book C, p. 539. *** Deed recorded in Deed Book 167-572, May 13, 1915. 54 THE PRESENT CHURCH 1906 THE COLESBERRY TOWER CLOCK 1911 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS OTHER GIFTS 1895 Catlin Cook — $300 on parsonage lot. 1901 The Louisa Reeve Estate— $100. Inter- est for Flower Fund. 1902 The Drake Estate— $3000 for new church building. 1902 The Edwards Family— Portrait of Dr. Richard Edwards. 1906 The Prouty Estate— $3000 for new church building. 1906 Edwin G. Smith— $500 for Smith Memor- ial Window. 1906 Parish Lovejoy and Mary Denham — $500 for Lovejoy Memorial Window. 1911 Mrs. Naffziger— $500 for Minnie Naff- ziger Memorial. Interest for the Sunday school. 1911 The Minnie Colesbury Estate— $1609 for clock in church tower. 1911 Edward Carey — Memorial tablet for Lora Simons Carey. 1912 Captain Duncan — Four gas arc lights. 1916 The Lovejoy Family— $500 for Mary Den- ham Memorial. Interest for Flower Fund. 1917 Mrs. S. J. Smith— $100 for the Mission- ary Society. 1917 The Lydia Anthony Estate— $100. Inter- est for Flower Fund. 1918 Flag for pulpit platform. 55 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH 1920 The Lucia Bascom Estate— $300. Inter- est for church expenses. 1924 The Harriet Keyes Estate— $500. Inter- est for church expenses. 1925 The Mrs. John Delano Estate— $1500. Interest for church expenses. 1925 Emma Farnham Hurr — Portrait of Rev. Lucian Farnham. 1927 Agnes Robinson. A piano. 1928 The Grandchildren of Eli and Elijah Smith and The Ladies' Aid— $97 for memorial tablet for Charter Members. (Unveiled March 23, 1928.) 56 The Work of the Kingdom THE LADIES' AID THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL THE WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETY THE ELIZABETH CURTIS GUILD THE DELTA ALPHA SOCIETY THE CHOIR THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM THE LADIES' AID SOCIETY "In work you bore a noble part; Your feet were foremost in the race; Your deeds shall dwell in every heart; Your Womanhood glorified your place." A century is not long as history views it. But a sketch of a society existing for the greater part of a cent- ury would be difficult to write, were the records available. Yet it is interesting to go back in thought a hundred years, — to the days of romance in northern Illinois, in which this church played a prominent part, when our pioneer women did a noble work, along with their many tasks and responsibilities. So quickly did time fly, and so busy were the lives of these women, that they had no time to write of the history they were making. But due to their faith and pioneer spirit, a work was begun, out of which grew the Ladies' Aid Society, the oldest society in this church. We have only a few old letters and records from which to glean, now and then, a glimpse of a faithful and im- portant work they were doing in the very early days, when they worshiped in the ittle white frame church. So, re- lunctantly we pass on, to the building of the old brick church in 1848. Soon afterwards, in 1850, the women purchased and presented a pulpit Bible to the church. Al- so we find that about this time the women earned the money to purchase a melodeon for the church, this more modern instrument to replace the tuning fork. 59 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH During the years 1884 to 1869 these women were busily engaged in helping with the many improvements made in the church, from time to time, in which they did their share in the work and expense, or, often assumed the entire burden. In 1864 they purchased the first pipe organ, which was set up in a recess twelve by twenty feet, built into the west end of the church. In an old record of 1877 we learn, "An iron fence was erected around the church yard, which was entirely paid for by the Ladies of this Church". E. S. Phelps and G. P. Richardson composed this committee, who reported the cost to be $220.90. This sum was paid the Committee by Miss Jennie Curtis and Mrs. Worthington. The first president, according to earliest available records, was Mrs. Burr, under whose wise counsel the so- ciety grew and accomplished much. During this time was earned enough money to pay for the first carpet, dishes, silver and stove, in the old brick church. The so- ciety also put cushions in every seat, and upholstered the pulpit chairs. As the name of the society implies, it has aided in all departments of the church work. No need or call from the church went unheeded. During the early days, when a tent was used as a dining hall at the county fair, these faithful women would be at the tent as early as four o'clock in the morning, to serve the public breakfasts of hash or sausage, with pan-cakes and coffee. In the early seventies Mrs. Burr realizing it was best to have something definite to work for was instrumental in presenting the church with a Communion Set consist- ing of goblets, pitchers and plates. Mrs. Burr continued to act as president for many years, during which time the Ladies met at the church on Friday of each week to quilt, and also served a dinner on that day. In those days one could have quilting done for $1.25 per spool, and din- ner served for twenty-five cents. The membership fee 60 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS was twenty-five cents a year, and those who came bring- ing their own work paid ten cents. From this fund pro- visions were purchased for the dinner, while members fur- nished a hot dish. After many years of service, which covered a period of over fifty years, Mrs. Burr felt she was no longer able to carry the burdens of the presidency, and begged that some member be chosen to take her place. Mrs. Burr's unselfish devotion to the Ladies' Aid through the long years of her service, was indeed commendable. Mrs. Eli Smith, Jr., was then chosen to act as presi- dent, and was followed by Miss Mame Pettee . Then Mrs. Smith was again chosen president, and during this time, as in former years, the Ladies continued to quilt and serve dinners, ever faithful in their work for the church. Many beautiful quilts have been made for residents of Princeton. Elaborate quilts have been sent to Chicago, Los Angeles, and to far distant Japan. In estimating the quilting done by the Aid, for a period of twenty-five years, we find from the records, they have quilted 225 quilts, and tied 250 comforters. Surely this work would make a wonderful display, could all the quilts and comforters of varied hue and design be as- sembled. But the Ladies' Aid has not confined itself to this work alone ; it has helped along other lines of church work. We will mention a few of these endeavors in which they have helped or assumed the entire expense: the purchase of flowers, an organ stop, Chautauqua tickets; the re- decorating of the dining rooms; church calendars; Mis- sions; church budget; Liberty bonds. They shared in the privilege of helping with the expense of the Taber- nacle built for special services. The Ladies' Aid has also enjoyed a social side in its work of special dinners and receptions. In April, 1927, a banquet was given to the church officers and their wives, 61 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH which gave as much pleasure to those who sponsored it, as to the guests. On March 23, 1928, when a pageant was given to commemorate the ninety-seventh anniversary of the organization of this church, a tablet was erected in memory of the eighteen original members, which was paid for by the grandchildren of Eli and Elijah Smith, with the valuable cooperation of the Ladies' Aid. On Friday, May 30, 1930, a Committee from the Ladies' Aid Society, served a dinner to the Ferris Post No. 309 , G. A. R., who invited as their guests, the wives, widows and daughters of the Ferris Post. During the past few years Mrs. Eli Smith has again served the Aid as its president. Mrs. Ida White was then elected president, followed by Mrs. T. C. Cowley, who has not only served the Aid as its president and a valuable member, but for many years has faithfully given her serv- ices to the church choir. The Ladies' Aid is still carry- ing on its work under the guidance of its president, Mrs. C. E. Parker, who, with her band of faithful workers, will doubtless begin the work of the new century upon which the church is entering, with a new purpose and a high hope. What the Ladies' Aid have lacked in money, they have made up in courage and vision, and have left to this church a priceless heritage, in memory of their faithful- ness and devotion to the cause of aiding in the Master's work. Grace Smith Elder. 62 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 1833—1930 During the summer of 1833 Mr. McCoy, a Sunday- school agent, came to this settlement and organized two Sunday schools, one north in Dr. Chamberlin's cabin, of which he was superintendent, the other south in John Ament's cabin, with Elijah Smith as superintendent. In 1834 these schools were united and met in the town, first in Rev. L. Farnham's house and later in the tavern kept by Mr. S. Triplet. Deacon Alby Smith was the first super- intendent. The school was held between the two preach- ing services at noon. When the afternoon service was discontinued the school still met at 12:00 o'clock until about 1906 when the hour was changed to 10:00 A. M. In the beginning the school was an independent or- ganization, selecting its own officers and teachers and paying its own expenses. The first Sunday of the year was devoted to the election of officers and teachers. Each class was at liberty to select a new teacher. Since the members of the school were mostly children, this method left much to be desired. There was a fixed idea in some minds that this training was good for the children. Many reforms were suggested and much discussion indulged in until 1890 when the church voted to elect the superintend- ents and gave them the authority to select teachers. In January, 1930, the church voted to elect annually a Board of Education consisting of five members, who should have entire charge of the Sunday school. For many years the whole school met in the audience room of the church. 63 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH In February, 1863, an Infant Class was formed and in 1869 a class "came up from down stairs" which seems to indicate that the little ones met in the basement. There has been no recording secretary for the Sun- day school for many years and it has been impossible to find definite facts concerning dates and leaders. So far as is known, Mrs. J. W. Welsh organized the Primary De- partment about 1908. At first it included all the child- ren under junior age. They adopted the graded lessons at once. As time went on other departments have been organized until now the school is thoroughly graded from Cradle Roll to Home Department. Until 1866 collections were taken the first Sunday of the month; since then the collection has been taken by classes every Sunday. The duplex envelopes are now used by the older classes. Be- fore they were introduced the collection of the first Sun- day of the month was for Missions. Many special collec- tions were taken. Rev. Chas. Winship, one missionary at Dondi, Africa, and his protege Barnabas Root were of early interest. Money was given for testaments and tem- perance tracts for soldiers in the Civil War and again for testaments for soldiers in the World War. The freedmen and contrabands were helped. A room was furnished at Tugaloo, a scholarship at Fisk University. The Home Mis- sionary Society and the Bible Society were each remem- bered. The school had a library for many years and there was always a demand for new books. Collections, sub- scriptions and entertainments afforded a precarious source of income for that object. The Wellspring, mentioned first in 1859 and the Child's Paper called for money. Sing- ing books were bought: The Sabbeth Bell, The Golden Chain, The Charm, and later, the various editions of Gospel Hymns. The birthday offerings began in 1908 and go to the American Bible Society. For a long time the Bible salute has been given during the opening exercises. Excelsior 64 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS membership is encouraged, when one is present, with his Bible, an offering, a studied lesson, and a previous church attendance. Two thirds of the membership of a class con- stitute an excelsior class; two thirds present without credits make a star class. In early days the lesson, a pass- age of scripture, was assigned the Sunday before, memory work was emphasized and sometimes the school repeated together the scripture for the day. In 1869 the Inter- national Lessons were adopted with lesson leaves and quarterlies. Old record books indicate that the lesson was not considered very important. Many times it was omitted and a story or a soldier's letter or a message from a mis- sionary was read. An evangelistic talk was often given and once it is recorded, "Lesson omitted — sermon too long". This was when the school met after the morning service. The social side of the work has not been neglected. Picnics in Bryant's woods and at Second High Banks used to be annual events. Christmas always brings the lighted tree and the appropriate program, with candy for the little ones. Records tell of one glorious New Year's Day when twelve bob-sleds took the children for a ride in the country and brought them back for a bountiful dinner at the church. Children's Day and Promotion Day, with diplomas and Bibles bring all the parents as well as the children. Rally Day also sees all the classes together in the audience room, a united body working together for the bringing in of the Kingdom of Heaven. There are several organized classes in the Sunday- school. One that came up with the Primary Department in 1869 has kept its identity all the years and four of the original class are still active members. This class has had the same teacher since 1894. 65 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH CHARLES P. HALL Few men in their capacity of teacher have left a more abiding impression upon the hearts and lives of their pupils than Charles P. Hall. I do not know if what Emerson calls his ' 'daily con- duct of life" emanated from his natural temperament or was acquired by grace; but I do know, as his pupil for many years, with the opportunity of intimate observation under varying experiences, that his law of life was that of Jesus brought into the common round of daily living; and that so far as humanly possible, he sought to ex- emplify within himself the teachings of the Divine Master. It is said that a nickname is a sure test of the stu- dents' reaction towards the teacher. Whatever the orig- in, "Pa Hair' was the affectionate and familiar sobriquet nine years of his life in our midst. Sometimes even a parent was heard to use it inadvertently. That it was a term of true affection is evidenced by the correspond- ence and papers of that period. As assistant principal of the Princeton Township High School, his efficiency and many admirable qualities both of head and heart proved of inestimable value to Mr. Bolt- wood in those early formative years of the school, in shap- ing the character and policy which later brought to it so much distinction. He was an extremely able teacher with a fine seren- ity and dignity of demeanor which never wavered under the most trying circumstances; he possessed an un- wearying patience with the dull and backward pupil, and an exquisite consideration for the physically handicapped which was the more readily remarked because he him- self was of the hardy, spare New England type, which personifies perfect health and balanced nerves. More than sixty years have passed since he lived with taught among us both in church and school. Very few 66 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS are left who knew him or ever heard his name; most of his pupils are gone. It comes as a solemn privilege to one of these last surviving to frame this Immortelle to his memory. As an evangel he came to many of his pupils to awaken for the first time their consciousness of the in- ner life within the soul as contrasted with the material things of the outer life; and to arouse within them a hunger for the spiritual food with which to feed these sacred fires. "And they that turn many to rightousness shall shine as the stars forever and ever." Darlene Stevens Reeve HENRY L. BOLTWOOD In the late summer of 1867 a young man full of the enthusiasm and energy of youth came to Princeton from Griggsville, Illinois, to establish the first Township High School in the State. This man was Henry L. Boltwood, who later became known as the "Father of the Township High School." Upon their arrival in Princeton, Mr. and Mrs. Bolt- wood united with the Congregational Church and immed- iately entered upon its activities in the Sunday-school, prayer meeting, missionary society and its social life. For seven years Mr. Boltwood served the church as a deacon, and there are still a few persons who can remember the earnest and efficient Sunday-school teacher whose out- standing purpose was the inspiration and building of Christian character. His own strong moral and religious character indelibly stamped itself upon those with whom he came in contact, and it was with a feeling of deepest regret that the church bade farewell to these valued friends and co-workers in 1878. 67 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Henry L. Boltwood was born in Amherst, Massachu- setts, January 17, 1831, and belonged to a family of eleven children. His father owned a small New England farm and found it hard to support this large family. While New England farms were often the homes of large families, they did not remain so long, for those who could must get away to more fertile fields or else go hungry. The Bolt- wood farm was located near Amherst and Amherst was a college town. The boy worked hard and finally made his way through the academy there. Then he entered the college and had to work still harder. During vacations he toiled upon the farm doing his share to coax from the rocky soil a few puny products. In the winter he taught school not far from the college town. For this service he received $4.00 a week and was permitted to board with the parents of his pupils, each family giving three days board for each child in school. Out of school he indulged in what he called a pastime. He chopped wood, a hundred cords of it every season. He didn't get much money out of this diversion, but he got from it strong arms and a sound pair of lungs, a clear head and bright eyes. Young Bolt- wood was as earnest a student as he was a wood chopper and he made a splendid scholarship record. He was one of the best students and when graduated in 1853 he be- came one of the charter members of the Amherst Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Upon graduation the young man intended to begin studying for the Congregational ministry, and a Congre- gational society had advanced him sufficient money to carry on his studies. He began teaching in an academy, however, and soon returned the loan and gave up the idea of becoming a clergyman. For a period of ten years he taught in sev- eral academies and high schools in Maine, New Hamp- shire and Massachusetts. And his long career as a teach- er extending over a period of over fifty years was inter- 68 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS rupted but once when he entered the service of the United States Sanitary Commission in April, 1864, and was sta- tioned with the Gulf Department until June, 1865. At Fort Blakely, opposite Mobile, he saw the last fight of the Civil War. This was when Steele's command took the fort by assault on the evening of April 9, 1865, just after Grant and Lee had arranged terms of sur- render. Prof. Boltwood's educational career really began with his coming to Illinois in August, 1865. He was influenced to come West by an army friend and had been in the state but a short time when he took charge of the school sys- tem of Griggsville, Illinois. After two years there he ac- cepted a call to organize after his own idea, the Princeton Township High School. Referring to this call, Mr. Bolt- wood said, "I was attracted to the new school principally because I thought I saw a chance to realize a long cher- ished ideal of a successful combination of the grade school with the academy. I was also strongly impressed with the willingness of the Board to give the school at the very outset the requisites for successful work." Due to his guiding spirit the enterprise was a success from the start. Both the school and its principal quickly achieving a wide reputation. For a long time it was the only school of high grade within a radius of fifty miles of Princeton, and at one time ninety pupils outside of the township were enrolled. Prof. Boltwood remained in Princeton eleven years, a longer period of service than that of any principal since. In 1878 he went to Ottawa, Illinois, to organize the town- ship high school there and remained at its head five years. During his stay in Ottawa, Prof. Boltwood be- came an institute lecturer throughout Illinois and Iowa. He also became a member of the State Board of Education and in turn president of the Illinois Principals' Associa- tion. 69 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH In 1883 he decided to accept the principalship of the Evanston High School, remaining there until his death in 1906, a period of twenty-three years. It is said that dur- ing his entire career as a teacher he missed but four days of service. Prof. Boltwood was a man of tireless energy and de- termination of purpose. Besides being a distinguished educator and contributor to many educational journals, he was the author of several text books. His favorite studies were languages and history. He read German, Italian, Spanish, French and Greek, and began the study of Bohemian. Prof. Boltwood was an ardent supporter of athletics and waged a continual warfare against high school fraternities. He travelled much, often taking groups of students with him on his trips abroad. He also took an active interest in community and public affairs, and dur- ing political campaigns was a frequent speaker. The life of this worthy and progressive pioneer in education suddenly terminated in 1906, when he had reached the age of seventy-five years, but his work goes on in the lives of the thousands who have passed out from under his influence, bearing the indelible impress of his spirit, to "carry on" in the communities now claiming them as citizens. His representatives may be found in nearly every state in the Union, as well as many lands afar. Pauline Schenk April, 1928 70 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS SCOTT R. COPPINS Scott R. Coppins was born November 7, 1861, in Hud- son, Michigan. He came in childhood to Providence, Ill- inois, where he went to the district school and attended the village church. To this church in the late seventies came Rev. George Paddock under whose winsome preach- ing Scott Coppins, with many others, made his decision for Christ, a decision from which he never varied. He was an enthusiastic Bible student and believed the Bible to be the very word of God. He was in Oberlin College for a year, then went to Beloit for two years. In the latter place he taught pen- manship, his own writing showing that he was a past master of that art. In 1892 he was married to Carrie J. Evans. For ten years Mr. and Mrs. Coppins made Chicago their home, but in 1902 they came to Princeton and at once united with this church. Mr. Coppins served twelve years as deacon, eighteen years as Sunday-school superintendent in which office he was indefatigable. As superintendent of coun- ty Sunday-school work he visited every Sunday-school in the county. He was sent as a delegate to the World Sun- day-school Convention at Washington, D. C. From the Bible Conference at Winona Lake, Indiana, he brought back many helpful ideas. One of them, the Bible salute, was in use as long as he served in the Sunday-school. Mr. Coppins was interested in his town and commun- ity in many ways not strictly religious. Young people were his joy. Two generations of Boy Scouts knew him as Drum Major and were always ready to cheer for him. He also drilled the Drum Corps of the American Legion. For ten years he was manager of our Chautauqua pro- grams. On December 5, 1930, he went to be with the Lord he loved. The funeral services were held in the church and he was laid to rest in Oakland Cemetery. 71 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL Lucian Farnham Elijah Smith Alby Smith E. S. Phelps Jas. H. Smith E. S. Phelps Caleb Cook C. S. Allen E. S. Phelps I. B. Smith L. J. Colton John Charlton Curtis J. Lyons John P. Richardson L. C. Barrows Albert Ethridge W. C. Stacy Chas. P. Hall F. W. Waller - E. F. Dunbar R. D. Harrison A. M. Swengle G. T. Smith J. R. J. Anthony S. S. Evans Reeve Norton J. 0. Craig S. S. Evans J. 0. Craig - F. W. Stewart S. R. Coppins T. P. Gunning C. V. Field Clara Allen Harris Jos. Findley S. R. Coppins SUPERINTENDENTS 1834 1836 1841 1842-1849 1850 1851-1853 1854-1855 (6 months) 1856 1856-1857 (6 months) 1858 1859 1860-1863 (6 months) 1864 July, 1864-1866 - 1867-1868 1869 1870-1872 1873-1876 1877-1883 1884-1888 1889 1890-1891 1892-1894 1895-1897 1898-1899 1900 1901 1902 (died in June 1903) 1903 1904-1907 1908-1916 1917-1919 1920 1921-1922 1923-1925 1927-1930 72 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS STATISTICAL SECRETARIES OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL At first the Statistical Secretary served also as His- torical and Recording Secretary. In 1887 the Historical Secretary became a separate official. L. J. Colton; E. S. Phelps; John P. Richardson; Cal- vin Winship (1858) ; Lucian Smith and Miss Sophia Love- joy had served before 1862, but their terms of service are not indicated. G. T. Smith 1862-1864 ? - 1865-1870 Parish Love joy 1871 Lucy H. Smith - 1872-1873 Mrs. Boltwood - 1874-August-1878 Clara Allen (Harris) 1881-1887 Jennie Curtis September, 1878-1880 Jennie Curtis 1888-1891 Mrs. Geo. Harrington 1892 Lottie Sickles - 1893-1894 Grace Phelps (Sisler) - 1895-1896 Lottie Sickles 1897 Bertha Evans 1898 Lottie Sickles 1899-1902 Minnie Naffziger 1903-1909 Edward Prior 1910-1917 Mary Uthoff 1918-1920 Marjory Garvin 1921-1922 Eva M. Greener - 1923-November, 1928 Grace M. Hoover, December, 1928-October, 1930 T. A. Fenoglio November,1930- In 1887 Mrs. Julia Phelps was elected Historical Sec- retary. In 1899 this was made a church office with a report at the Annual Meeting. Mrs. Phelps held the office until 1908 when she moved from the town. 73 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THE WOMAN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY The First Congregational Church of Princeton, Illin- ois, was really born a missionary church when it was or- ganized in Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1831 and its band of Christian workers sent upon its way to the untrod- den wilderness and boundless prairies of Illinois, with this parting and comforting message, "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." It is recorded in circulars published at the time that "the main object of the colony was not so much to promote the private interests of its members as to advance the cause of Christ by planting religious institutions in the virgin soil of the West, and aiding the cause of Christian educa- tion in its various departments." Amid discouragements which would have dishearted less loyal standard bearers, the work ultimately grew and prospered, and its first foreign missionary achievement was marked by the going out of two of its members, Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Winship, graduates of Knox College, as missionaries to Mendai Mission, West Africa. Its first great home missionary accomplishment was the active part the church took in freeing the slaves. All this was done long before any missionary society was or- ganized, for it was not until 1870 that the women of the church banded together in an organization to be known as the "Woman's Missionary Society of Princeton", auxil- iary to the W. B. M. I., which should have for its object the enlisting of earnest and sympathetic aid for women in foreign lands. Ladies paying two cents a week or $1.00 a year were considered members of the society. Meet- 74 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS ings were to be held every two months, or oftener if de- sirable. The first officers recorded in 1871, were President, Mrs. R. B. Howard Vice President, Mrs. Mary Keys Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. Converse. In 1881 Mrs. R. D. Harrison organized a young ladies foreign missionary society known as the "What-so-ever Band", and in 1884 a juvenile missionary society was formed, called 'The Samaritan Band" of which Mrs. J. H. Strock was the leader. Both of these organizations did good work for a number of years. Mrs. E. H. Votaw was the mother of the Home Mis- sionary Society in the Church, when some time in 1892 the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society decided to devote each alternate month to the study and work of home mis- sions. Separate treasurers were elected and the work of the two societies successfully functioned together from that time on. Deserving of especial mention in the Home Mission- ary field is the wonderful work of Prof, and Mrs. G. By- ron Smith at Iberia, Missouri. The first event of especial interest in the Woman's Missionary Society was the meeting of the Northern Illin- ois Branch of the W. B. M. I. with the Princeton church February 12, and 13, 1879. The church again entertained the Illinois Branch of the Woman's Board in 1900, 1914 and 1925. A social event of general interest was the beautiful church wedding of Miss Lora Gale Simons and Mr. Edward F. Carey, August 14, 1901. After a period of seventy years the church was celebrating its first missionary wedding. Immediately after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Carey left for their new home and chosen field of labor in Harpoot, Turkey. 75 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH That the church is not outgrowing its missionary in- terests is evidenced by the fact that the treasurer's record shows that during the five years from 1878 to 1882 in- clusive, $336.73 was collected and disbursed by the so- ciety, while in 1925, $292.00 was collected and disbursed by the foreign treasurer and $268.00 by the home treas- urer, a total of $560.00. At various times large amounts have been raised for special projects, largest of which is the Lora Simons Carey endowment fund, now totaling about $800.00. After the death of Mrs. Carey at Harpoot in 1906 the Missionary Society furnished the children's ward in the missionary hospital at Harpoot, in her memory. Then arose the question of maintenance and upon the sugges- tion of Mrs. Arthur Seelig, through whose leadership much of the money was raised, it was decided to create an en- dowment fund of $500.00, the annual income from which was to be used for the support of the ward. Before the goal was quite reached, the Turks requisitioned the hos- pital during the World War, and the missionaries were driven from that field. Since then the fund has been in- vested and constantly increasing, awaiting the time for re- investment in another memorial for Mrs. Carey. Among the women whose consecrated service in the society most strongly inspired and perpetuated its growth, are Mrs. Mary Keyes, Mrs. Lydia Anthony, Mrs. Chauncey Colton, Mrs. Catlin Cook, Mrs. R. D. Harrison and Mrs. F. W. Stewart. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." Pauline Schenk June, 1928 .76 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS A TRIBUTE TO MR. AND MRS. E. F. CAREY MISSIONARIES TO HARPOOT, TURKEY IN ASIA One bright March morning thirty years ago, in an elm shaded cottage in quiet old Princeton, a plump, rosy, blue-eyed little girl opened her eyes to the light of day. This delicate early spring blossom received a joyous wel- come into the home and hearts of loving young parents, and was christened Lora Gale Simons. A few years of happy babyhood slip by, and we see a sweet-faced, smiling little lassie trudging along to the public school, often accom- panied by a slender fair-haired little lad named Edward, who came from his grandmother Carey's spacious, old fashioned home, beside whose long front walk Jnue breezes scattered the blossoms from the old apple trees, and peonies, snowballs, and flowering-almonds vied with each other in blooming time beckoning one on and up to the broad piazza and wide front door where pine trees cast their shadow ever and anon. Summers came and summers went, and many happy care free years were spent in this dear old home, aften enlivened in vacation times by Edward's sister and other friends. The little lass has developed into a winsome maiden universally beloved by her companions, and the lad into a youth whose bright keen intellect has already attracted the attention of the teachers; and always and everywhere they are known as Ed and Lora. Princeton High School days are followed by teaching, normal and college training for Miss Simons; and Ann Arbor and Andover for Mr. Carey, where at each place fine scholarship records were obtained. August 14, 1901, there is unusual stir about the old home church. Happy young people are hurrying about, quanities of flowers and garlands green are being carried in, and the inquiring passer by is informed that it is Mr. 77 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Carey's and Miss Simons' wedding day, and that after sev- enty years the church is celebrating its first missionary wedding. Mr. Carey has chosen a foreign field, and the woman of his choice with true loyalty responds, "Whither thou goest, I will go ; and whither thou lodgest, I will lodge ; thu people shall be my people, and thy God my God." The rose-tinted memory of that beautiful ceremony still lingers with the church full of friends who bade them God speed as they started away full of enthusiasm and good cheer to that far away field of usefulness, Harpoot in Eastern Turkey. A fortnight was spent in visiting fam- ily friends among the green hills of Vermont, and August 28, 1901, Mr. and Mrs. Carey sailed away from the home- land shores to their new home and strange new life in the Orient. The voyage was safely made. About six weeks of great pleasure and profit were spent in visiting inter- esting places on the European continent, and then came the hard but no less interesting journey from Constan- tinople to their destination, which was also successfully accomplished about November 1. The study of the Armenian tongue was immediately taken up by both; and Mr. Carey at once entered upon his work of teaching in Euphrates College. He astonished all of his co-workers with his remarkable ability at ac- quiring the language, and in a few months was able to make himself understood in the native tongue. Full of energy, enthusiasm and the spirit, he also began at once to go to the neighboring villages with an interpreter to speak and preach on Sunday. A new theological seminary building, to replace the one burned in the massacre about ten years before, had been planned, and soon after his arrival he entered into the work of assisting President Riggs in the supervision of its construction with great earnestness, performing many hours of manual labor himself. Many of you are familiar through Missionary literature with this comfortable new 78 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS building of which department Mr. Carey is the head. Much of his vacation time has been devoted to touring, and he has been eminently successful in this line of work, as well as in that of teaching. Of him, Miss Bush said here two years ago, that he had proven himself a true winner of souls. Very early in her life as a foreign missionary Mrs. Carey was put to the sore test of invalidism, being con- fined to her bed nearly a year, and despairing of ever be- ing able to walk again. Of these trying days Mrs. Knapp wrote, "She taught us all a lesson by the ever sweet patience which was always manifest." But the Master had work for her to do, and in His own good time she was restored to comparative good health. The orphanage work appealed to her tender sympathetic heart, and be- fore her illness she had became a valuable assistant to those in charge of that department. Then the degradation and poverty of the poor half-starved mothers who had no work to do to provide for their little children wrung her heart, and she determined to do something to help them. Many of you are familiar with the history of the lace industry founded at Anitab by Mrs. Shepherd, and at Oorfa by Miss Shattuck, nearly ten years ago, just after the great massacre in which hundreds of Armenian men were killed, and their homes robbed, and the wives and daughters left to suffer the indignities of lustful soldiers and hardships of an inclement winter. The American missionaries promptly appealed to American Christians, and thousands of dollars were sent there as a relief fund. Hundreds of poor women were given employment making garments and even carrying stone and mortar for the buildings which had to be put up again. The work for the children soon grew into permanent establishment for orphans where over a thousand boys and girls receive up to the present time, clothes and education, and prom- ise to become leading citizens when they are again sent 79 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH out among the people. But this relief money and relief work were both soon exhausted. The shirts were all made and the missionary houses all rebuilt. What was to become of the hundreds of poor women., and daughters too old to go to school, and too poor to marry? There is absolutely no way for a lone woman in this part of Turkey to earn her own livelihood. How could these women save their virtue or their lives? This harrowing question Mrs. Shepherd and Miss Shattuck solv- ed. They determined to revive among the women the lace industry. This making of lace, which in the olden time had been the fancy-work and delight of rich and noble families, was now to be made to earn bread and cheese for the needy. So with great difficulty, undaunted courage and a stupendous amount of labor a lace industry was started in Anitab and Oorfa which met with immediate success, and has now grown to such proportions as to give employment to over 2000 women. Such an industry Mrs. Carey determined to start for just the same kind of women in Harpoot, and in November, 1903, the beginning was made. A teacher was procured, and money enough secured, mostly from the private funds of missionaries, to enable seven women to begin the work. Mrs. Carey then wrote to many of her friends in America, and to her home church for help, and glad responses were made, but the amounts of money were small. At the end of one year the number of workers had increased to forty, and at the close of the second to nearly 100, with many eager ones on the waiting list, and there she had to draw the line fearing she had gone too far. Many times she had to go down on her knees and tell the Lord that she didn't know where the money was coming from to pay her women, but it always came, and sometimes in most unexpected ways. But for lack of capital, 200 women could have easily been provided with work as 100. As the skill of the women 80 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS increased, the amount paid out each week reached the sum of one and a half English pounds. A skillful worker can earn fifteen piasters a week, which in purchasing power er is equal to more than $5.00 in American money. So you see that the suffering and idleness already alleviated in these women's homes are a guarantee of the value of this form of industrial mission. At the close of the second year Mrs. Carey began to feel that the work had reached a good financial basis, and the third year opened with a most encouraging outlook, when suddenly a great sorrow over- cast the mission. Mrs. Carey was dangerously ill, and after a few days of intense suffering the precious benefactor of so many, laid down her labor of love. And now, "Where the Orient sunshine falleth Where her golden crown was won, In that far-away mission garden She is resting, her work is done." I cannot attempt to describe the grief of the native women, among them, the "Brides' Class' which had also been one of her especial charges, when their great loss became known; but loving hands have taken up the lace industry which is now under the supervision of Mrs. At- kinson, wife of the missionary doctor, and in memory of our sainted friend, shall not we of our abundance give generously to carry on the work so well begun? Written for Bureau Ass'n. Meeting 1906 by Pauline Schenk 81 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH G. BYRON SMITH Some years ago there appeared in the American Maga- zine an article by Bruce Barton entitled ' 'Smith of Iberia." It was the story of an unusual piece of educational work that was being carried on among the Ozark hills in Mis- souri. Far from any large city, twelve miles distant from a railroad, in the small village of Iberia in the fall of 1890, a young man by the name of Smith, assisted by his wife, had opened an academy in order that the young people of the surrounding country might have the opportunity to secure a higher education. Both Mr. Smith and his wife were graduates of Knox College, and were imbued with the idea of the value of the classical and cultural studies as the best foundation for the building of sound charac- ter and a broad citizenship. After more than three decades of effort so notable a work of education was being accom- plished that it came to the attention of the American Maga- zine and the story of "Smith of Iberia" found a place in its pages. "Smith of Iberia" was none other than G. Byron Smith who grew to young manhood in Princeton. He was born here June 7, 1865, being the only son of Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Smith, for many years residents of this place. His mother was a devoted member of the Princeton Congre- gational Church, a spiritually minded woman who cherish- ed the highest ideas for her son. Byron, too, held his membership in this church for some years; and he inherit- ed the traits of lofty idealism of his mother. He was graduated from the Princeton High School in 1884 and a year later found him enrolled in the Freshman class of Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois. He chose the classical course and made an excellent record therein. Dur- ing his college course he became devoted not only to the pursuit of the classics but equally devoted to the pursuit of a fellow student of the classics, Miss Mabel White, a 82 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS member of his own class. And the picture of Byron and Mabel strolling leisurely under the elms between "Old Main" and "Whiting Hall' is still vivid in the memory of the students of those days. Each graduating with the de- gree of B. A. from Knox in the class of 1889, news of their marriage a short time after brought no surprise to their friends. However, some of their friends were surprised in the fall of 1890 when it was reported that Byron and Mabel had gone into the back woods of Missouri and were try- ing to start an academy. "One of Byron's dreams", said some, "too visionary ever to become a reality." But Byron was a man not only of vision, but of faith also ; and such a combination always brings results. Forty years have passed since that opening day. What a contrast is presented between conditions then and now! On that first day of October, 1890, among the stu- dents that presented themselves for admission, only one was found prepared to enter upon the proposed course of study; so that it was necessary to offer a year of prep- aration for the regular academic course. Today two years of junior college work are offered in addition to the regu- lar academy courses and the annual combined enrollment in the academy and junior college is about one hundred twenty students. Then there was but one meagerly equip- ped building. Now there are five good buildings on a campus of twenty acres; a library of seven thousand vol- umes; an endowment of $100,000.00; a property valued at $150,000.00 and not one penny of indebtedness. Then there was not a single high school within ten counties around; and many of the public schools had terms of from three to six months' duration. Today the schools of central Mis- souri are going much higher grades of work, and many high schools have sprung into being in the surrounding counties. Who can say how much Iberia College has done to stimulate the educational life of that entire region? 83 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH During the academy's existence more than two hun- dred have been graduated from its courses, and of that number seventy-five per cent have gone on to complete a college course. And former students of the academy are ' 'making good" in all walks of life through all the region round about. The thought and life of the local community have been deeply influenced by the academy during its forty years of steady expansion. Many were the obstacles to be surmounted especially in the early years of the school life. But with the backing of loyal friends in the Congregational churches of the state, particularly in St. Louis, Mr. and Mrs. Smith held steadfastly to their pur- pose with the result that their names deserve to be hon- ored among the true builders of a better world. During these two score years, crowded with activity in the class room and with administrative work, Mr. and Mrs. Smith always kept in touch with progressive ideas in the field of education, but were never swept off their feet by the clamor for vocational courses as over against the so-called cultural subjects. Twice during different sum- mer vacations they were enabled to go abroad and thus bring added interest to their classes, by linking modern Greece and Rome with those ancient civilizations. On different occasions Mr. Smith filled the pulpit of the local Congregational church, and his name has at times appeared on the programs at the State Conferences of that denomination. Enthusiasm for his work has enabled this man to achieve success in his chosen field of labor attained by only a few. The inspiration for the service he has ren- dered he attributes to his mother, to the Princeton Con- gregational Church and to Knox College. The Princeton church is proud to place the name of G. Byron Smith on her roll of honor, and will always be glad to welcome this modest unassuming man who still calls Princeton his home. E. B. Cushing. 84 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS TWO HOME MISSIONARIES In January, 1890, Miss Carrie Segar and Miss Emma Harwood joined the church coming to Princeton from Can- ada, Mississippi, where they taught colored children under the charge of the Freedman's Bureau. Miss Harwood had been a nurse in the Civil War. While working together in Mississippi, they became fast friends and there began the copartnership in their lives which continued unbroken un- til the death of Miss Segar, September, 1920, a period of over fifty years. Service for others was their life aim. Both were highly esteemed by the Ladies' Aid and by their associates in fellow church work. Their memories will be cherished by many to whom they gave needful and timely Christian assistance and direct help in extremity. Their Princeton home is still known as "Saints' Rest." MARCIA M. SMITH Miss Marcia Mi Smith was born in Burlington, New York, September 20, 1806. She joined the church in Gou- veneur, New York, April, 1824. She went out to the Sand- wich Islands as a teacher in the seventh reinforcement from Boston in December, 1826, and arrived there the fol- lowing April. She was stationed at Kaneohe, on Calu, September 1, 1837. She was transferred to the school at Punahon in 1842 where she remained until her return to the United States in 1853. She united with the Princeton Congrega-. tional Church in 1853. She spent her last days in the home of Joseph Allen of Dover, Illinois and is buried in the old Cemetery at Dover. She was a sister of Mrs. Lorenzo Lyons, a missionary in the Sandwich Islands, and her nephew, Curtis Lyons, was for a time superintendent of our Sunday school. 85 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH CHARLES FREDERICK WINSHIP Charles Frederick Winship was born in New Hart- ford, New York. He came to Illinois with his father's family in 1833. He united with this church in 1836 on confession of faith, and was graduated from Knox College with an A. M. Degree in 1853. September 18, 1859, a Coun- cil ordained him for a missionary to West Africa. He must have gone out at once for in June, 1860, a letter from him was read in the Sabbath school, which was written at Don- di, Mendai Mission, West Africa. About 1861 Mr. Winship was married in Africa, to Sarah , a Scotch woman, probably a missionary. His health failed and he with his wife came to Princeton in 1863. He bought a home here in which they lived until his death in 1865. He and his wife are buried in Oakland Cemetery. February 3, 1861, the Sabbath school received a letter from Barnabas Root, a protege of Reverend Chas. F. Win- ship. He was a native of the locality of the Mendai Mis- sion in which Mr. Winship labored and is spoken of as "an African youth about five years from the bush." When Mr. Winship came home he brought this young man with him. July 5, 1863, Barnabas Root was present at the Sabbath school and it is recorded that he was in Mr. James Smith's class. Where he got his preparatory education is not now known but he entered Knox College in 1866 and graduated with an A. B. Degree in 1870. He also secured a medical education and returned to Africa a full fledged M. D. with high hopes of serving his people. He died in 1877 in Africa 86 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR The young people of the Princeton Congregational Church have always been interested in the work of the church. A young people's prayer meeting was inaugurat- ed and carried on under the personal direction of Dr. Ed- wards during his pastorate. His own family contributed largely to the success of this helpful service and the young- people enthusiastically upheld this meeting. When Dr. Stephen A. Norton came to be pastor in 1884, the Christian Endeavor Movement was in its fourth year and was rapid- ly increasing in popularity. Miss Emma V. White had be- come interested in the workings of this society from per- sonal knowledge in other places, and at her suggestion Dr. Norton called a special meeting of the "Young People's Prayer Meeting" to consider forming a Christian Endea- vor Society here. The call that was sent out for this meet- ing was dated December 28, 1887, and was as follows: "At the Young People's meeting on January first 1888 we will consider the 'Society of Christian Endeavor' and if best will organize at once. May not I count on your presence and help? Let us begin the New Year with a new endeavor. Sincerely yours, (Signed) S. A. Norton." In response to this call the Christian Endeavor Society was formed on January 1, 1888. Its first officers were J. Clyde Smith, President, E. A. Stem, Vice President, Ed. Mercer, Secretary-Treasurer, Bertha Forbes, Chairman of Lookout Committee, M. Elizabeth Reed, Chairman of Pray- er-meeting Committee, and Emma V. Khite, Chairman of Temperance Committee. The slogan "For Christ and the 87 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Church" fired enthusiasm amongst the young people and by the second half of the first year many new names had been added to the membership. It was the policy of the secretary to change officers every six months so that all members took responsibility. This proved a strong point in the training for service. In the days of the C. E. Bureau County Union large delegations were sent to the conventions and the banner for the largest numbers was often brought home to Princeton. From time to time new committees were added to the original three. The Missionary Committee raised quite large sums of money and sent barrels of clothing to needy places. The Social Committee tried to carry out the ob- ject of the Society's existence, "to promote an earnest Christian life among our members and to increase their mutual acquaintance. ,, Many good times resulted and life- long friendships formed. In 1910 an attempt was made to promote missionary study by the purchasing of ten missionary volumes. This began the Library which was added to for a number of years. It contained many standard volumes on missionary topics. In the Historical Secretary's annals we find allusion to the helpfulness of the young people. We find her say- ing: "Christian Endeavor means work. Leaders of the weekly meetings have no slight task to make them bright and helpful. The Church appreciates their help." Sometime during the presidency of Mrs. Charles J. Morris (1897-1898) the Society sponsored a concert given by the Ladies' Symphony Orchestra of Boston. One hun- dred dollars had to be guaranteed. This venture was en- thusiastically supported. Hard work was rewarded, for when the profits were counted they found two hundred dollars to their credit. 88 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS The first Junior Christian Endeavor Society was form- ed during the pastorate of the Rev. E. H. Votaw in 1892. Miss Agnes Robinson was its first superintendent. After some years of usefulness it was merged with the Senior Society. (Records are not found concerning this). It was re-instated during Rev. Lee's pastorate and was a lively organization for a few years under Mrs. Lee's magnetic in- fluence. The ebb and flow of young people's work during the years has been interesting to study. Now the effective method seems to be that of merging with other denomin- ations of City and County. Large and enthusiastic gath- erings are held and groups attend Summer Conferences at Tower Hill where the spirit of devotion to the Church is kindled and training for service imparted to the earnest young people who attend. Thus God-given impulses are carried into action and the old slogan, 'Tor Christ and the Church" is carried on and efficient service rendered. Carrie Dunbar. 89 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THE DELTA ALPHA SOCIETY In the year 1903 the Rev. John W. Welsh was chosen pastor of the Congregational Church. Shortly after Mr. Welsh began his pastorate, his wife, Mrs. Mary W. Welsh, organized a Sunday school class already in existence into what is now known as the Delta Alpha Society. The group as organized consisted of about twenty-five high school girls. Mrs. Welsh was a diligent worker and did her utmost to interest the girls in the Sunday school and the church itself. The aim of the Delta Alpha organization is not only to learn to be Heavenly-minded, but to grow in grace through exercising the spirit of grace toward one another. Our objective is the cultivation of the spirit of friendship. This is given its highest and holiest interpretation, — that of pure, self-forgetful love. An oriental water pitcher, such as is used for bringing water from the common well — a fitting reminder of the daily toil and servitude of women of the Bible lands — is the emblem of the class, and this token is also found on the class pin. Since the time the Rev. and Mrs. Welsh left Princeton the Delta Alpha Society has had a number of teachers. All of these teachers have been most helpful and loyal, and the class feels indebted to them for their efforts to help the class members to put First Things first in their lives. The years have come and gone, but the Delta Alphas have steadily progressed, not only in membership, but in the work of the Church. They have now a membership of sixty. The meetings are held the second and fourth Tues- days in each month. Officers are elected each year and committees appointed. 90 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS It can truly be said of the Delta Alphas that a splendid feeling of friendship exists among the members and a deep feeling of loyalty. During the World War the Delta Alpha Society work- ed diligently. In the year 1917 the class met each week at the church and Needlework Guild rooms making band- ages, garments, pillows, slings and various surgical dress- ings, as well as knitting socks, helmets, sweaters, and other articles. The Delta Alphas have suffered losses in their ranks when Death has entered and taken some of the loved mem- bers. The following are members who have been called to meet their Saviour face to face: Madge Ennis, Marjorie Vaughan, Bess Morgan, Olive Lee, Louise Bryant, Ruth Norton and Helen Williams. The Delta Alphas have given generously of their time, ability and finances in aiding the church to accomplish and perform Christ's work in the world. The financial assist- ance has been made possible by the untiring efforts of the entire organization in the serving of market days, dinners, suppers, luncheons, etc. The class members in many in- stances have contributed the greater part of the food for the dinners and the members have been helpful in both the preparation and the serving. A small annual class fee is also charged each member, which eventually finds its way into church activities. "There's richest joy in serving, Thro sun and wind and rain; In friendship's name to do and care Makes life a glorious gain. 'Thro darkness and thro danger, Unharmed we move along; Tis friendship's light that safely leads And makes our lives a song." Ethel M. Sharp. 91 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH THE ELIZABETH CURTIS GUILD In the year 1906 many of the women of the church began to realize that there should be another woman's so- ciety to help bear the burden of church work. The Ladies' Aid which had labored so long and faithfully should have their labors lightened by a new society which should in- clude all the women not members of the Aid and all those who were members, who cared to join both societies. Mrs. Wilson Warfield suggested that a Guild be or- ganized, and a meeting was called on February nineteenth at the home of Mrs. John Delano, and officers were elected. Just at this time one of our most dearly loved mem- bers, Mrs. Elizabeth Curtis, was standing "Beside that ancient gate way built up in years gone by, Upon whose top the clouds in eternal shadows lie — " looking wistfully back on her dear church where she had spent so many happy hours, had worked so hard and sac- rificed so much. It had been home to her and she had made it home to others. And so these women, all of whom loved her as a friend and fellow-worker, drew up a set of by-law, beginning: "This society shall be known as the Elizabeth Curtis Guild. Its object shall be to continue in the First Congre- gational Church of Princeton, Illinois the work Mrs. Curtis so loved and to which she so faithfully gave her time and strength — namely, to make the church helpful, homelike and inviting to all who come to our town." When Mrs. Curtis was told of this she was able to ex- 92 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS press her appreciation and pleasure, and the next day pass- ed to that Home, where we cannot but feel that she was welcomed as she had welcomed so many to her church home here. Lack of space prevents a list of officers, of deaths, of marriages, nor can all that has been accomplished socially and financially be told. Only a few outstanding items can be given such as: The decoration of the church and parsonage at var- ious times and $200 paid on the church building debt. Plac- ing a gas grate, mantel, window and radiator in the pas- tor's study. Buying new dishes and silver. The new kitchen and Sunday-school rooms in the basement. $150 toward the new roof for the church. A tablet placed to the memory of M/iss Minnie Colesbury, donor of the church clock and a contribution to the memorial fund for Lora S. Carey. $200 toward furnishing a Church room at the hos- pital. Five Christmas boxes sent to Mr. Day's school for Mountain Whites in Tennessee. The yearly bazaar and luncheon. The banquets on Mother's and Dad's Day, also to such organizations as Rotarians, Lion's, City Beautiful delegation, District Federation of Woman's Clubs, M. E. Conference, W. B. M. I. and G. A. R. Help was given to the Deaconess' Home at Dover, and the churches at Cherry and Seatonville. A box of linen was sent to Harpoot, Turkey, and $125 toward a children's ward there. Lastly, the Guild appoints each year com- mittees to decorate the pulpit aided by means of interest from several gifts left for this purpose, thus carrying on the labor of love performed for so many years by Mrs. Curtis. In the Guild record the names of some officers have been repeated again and again, a number serving three and four years. Special mention should be made of Mrs. Bertha Sherwin who served faithfully ten consecutive years as secretary, and Mrs. Grace C. Norris who is now 93 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH president and serving the ninth year with splendid con- structive ability, both financially and socially. Filling the offices has meant for these women hard work, anxiety, discouragement, — yes, and happiness. Still there are names not among the officers, of some too mod- est, too self-effacing to accept office, yet whose very names bring a feeling of confidence and respect for their ability whenever they are mentioned, — women who have served as heads of dinner committees many times, who have done their own share of work and that of others on the flower and pulpit decoration committee, who have cut out work and sewed, and whose only reward has been the "well done, thou good and faithful servant" heard in their own hearts. Such is the history of the Elizabeth Curtis Guild. May the years to come be as profitable, as full of service, and as happy with loving fellowship. Kate Delano Barrett. 1930. 94 THE ALCOVE AND THE FIRST PIPE ORGAN 1865 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE CHOIR In the old frame church the singing was by the con- gregation and the only musical instrument was the tuning fork. A letter written in 1898 by Frances Crittenden Burge says: — "In the old days the leading singers occu- pied the seats on either side of the speaker's platform and all who could, joined in the hymns, set to familiar tunes." On March 4, 1840, a committee was appointed to "pro- pose proper measures calculated to improve singing in the church and to see about a supply of singing books." In July of that year, two dozen copies of "The Manhattan Col- lection of Sacred Music" was secured. In 1843 instruction in singing was discussed. The purchase of a melodeon, by the efforts of the women of the church, was the first innovation upon primitive simplicity. In the brick church (1848) there was a gallery over the vestibule and the choir sat there. During the singing the audience rose, turned around and faced the choir. In January, 1849, it was resolved "that singing is a part of religious worship and should be sustained by the church" and $20.00 was voted for that purpose. They also voted to permit the choir to practice in the church and one dozen cheap candlesticks were to be purchased for their use. In December of that year, Homer Winship was paid $3.75 for candlesticks and lard. "The Plymouth Collection of Hymns" was adopted in 1864 and that year Mrs. L. F. Newell began a campaign for a pipe organ. In 1865 an al- cove was added to the west end of the church in which the first pipe organ was installed and the melodeon was used for the Wednesday afternoon prayer meetings. Mrs. L. 95 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH F. Newell was the first organist. Izora Winship was the second. Dr. G. T. Smith and J. Clyde Smith also served. One, who sat in the audience, said "The church always had good music and a fine choir." Another, "Well do I remem- ber the magnificence of 'How Beautiful is Zion' as ren- dered by that old choir. I have heard grand operas but never one made the deep impression upon me which that did". The first pipe organs were supplied with wind by hand-pumped bellows. Usually the "pumpers" were lads of the congregation and many are the stories they told, in later years, of the hardships of that occupation. One of the trustees objected to paying $20.00 a year for this ser- vice. It wasn't worth that. He was advised to try it and see, which he readily consented to do. By chance, a visit- ing organist, intent on making an impression, put on all the power available and by the time the service was over the trustee, a small man, was a wreck. He never again ob- jected to paying any price the boys demanded. A water motor supplied power for a time, but was followed in 1916 by an electric motor. In the early seventies Nat Simons was chorister and for years he with his wife, and Mrs. Cow- ley and changing bassos sang not only at the regular serv- ices but for innumerable funerals. In 1899 the second pipe organ was purchased. Up to 1901 one of the interesting events of the annual meeting was a discussion of music and musicians. Since this did not always lead to the happiest results, it was voted to transfer the duty of en- gaging the choir to the trustees. Since 1917 a music com- mittee has been chosen annually and to them is given the. entire charge of the choir. At times a chorus choir has been tried and in 1912 a male quartette sang. None are left to tell of those early singers who gave their time and talent with no thought of remuneration. Most of their names are forgotten, but who doubts that they are still praising God somewhere. Some still spoken of are Annie Everett, Lizzie Walker, Nan W. Rawson, Bessie Morgan, 96 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Charles Bascom and Clarence Delano. Arvis Chapman is said to have been a good leader, interested in the best music. The list of those, still living, who have given serv- ice in this choir is much too long to be given here, but two of these deserve mention. Mrs. Tom Cowley sang for us eighteen years and Miss Grace Farwell, the present or- ganist, has served for seventeen years. 97 The Secular Affairs of the Church THE ANNUAL MEETING STATE MEETINGS FINANCES THE SECULAR AFFAIRS OF THE CHURCH THE ANNUAL MEETING On January 6, 1841, it was voted that there be an an- nual meeting of the church on the Wednesday after the first Monday in January at which time trustees shall be chosen and all business pertaining to the church transact- ed and that there be no other stated business meeting. In October, 1851, it was changed to the first Wednes- day of January. January 1890, at the suggestion of Stephen Norton, pastor of the church, a church-family dinner was served between the forenoon and afternoon ses- sions. The annual meeting convened at 10:00 o'clock A. M. On January 13, 1892, an "Order of the Annual Meet- ing" was adopted and reports were asked from each de- partment of church work. Sometime between 1916 and 1920 the time of the annual meeting was changed to 5:00 P. M. with dinner at 6:00 P. M. and business afterwards. On November 3, 1916, it was voted to have a nomin- ating committee before the annual meeting, said com- mittee to represent every organization of the church and Sunday school. From 1917 to 1921 quarterly meetings were held. In January, 1928, the day of the annual meeting was changed to Thursday. STATE MEETINGS The second Meeting of the Illinois State Association was held here in August, 1845, 1897 and in May, 1904, the year before the brick church was torn down. The Illinois Branch of the Woman's Board met here in 1879, 1900 and 1914. 101 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH FINANCES The first entry about finances is dated October 31, 1838. Subscriptions amounted to only $382.00. Church resolved to raise $600 by a tax on property, the trustees to assess the tax. July 8, 1840. Voted that trustees report who has paid, how much and to whom, from whom dues should be paid. December 13, 1843. Voted to elect a treasurer who should serve till a successor was elected. This treasurer to pay salary quarterly and if there is not money enough to cover the amount due, a note be given for the arrears, to bear 10 per cent interest till paid. All members in ar- rears shall also pay 10 per cent interest on their back "dues, also a discount on dues paid before due. January 1, 1845. Voted that members be taxed for the support of needy members. July 7, 1847. Subscription paper circulated for money to build the new church. October 17, 1847. Subscription paper to be circulated outside of the church to raise money to build and that the restrictions in the deed of ownership of pews be inserted in the subscription paper. (Evidently the pews had been sold before this, but nothing is recorded of it.) January 3, 1849. Voted to offer fifty slips for sale in the new house. Voted Dr. Converse, Sidney Smith, Joseph Campbell, Eli Smith and C. S. Allen be a committee to ap- praise the slips. Voted that the church raise $20.00 the present year by assessment, for the purpose of sustaining the singing. Voted that E. C. Winship, Caleb Cook and C. D. Colton be a committee to appropriate said fund. February 14, 1849. Voted to offer slips for public sale February 28, 1869 at 9:00 a. m. February 21, 1849. Voted that slips be sold on credit for three months. 102 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS March 14, 1849. Voted that the trustees be authoriz- ed to rent the ten slips, reserved for sale, at 10 per cent of their relative value, from year to year, except so many as may be necessary to supply families who are unable to pay rent. January 9, 1850. Voted that $25.00 be added to the assessment for support of singing. January 1851. Voted that all financial concerns be conducted through the treasurer. STANDING RULES July, 1851 I. It shall be the duty of the trustees immediately after the annual meeting to make out the assessment for the year expenses and they shall also discharge all other duties devolving on them as trustees. II. All the ordinary expenses of the church shall be defrayed by an annual assessment on the poll and estates of the members, a poll being valued at $500.00, the trustees having discretionary power, in individual cases, to abate a portion of the assessment, or to exempt from such assess- ment, Provided: it shall be the duty of the trustees, unless otherwise ordered, to circulate a subscription among the members of the congregation for the support of the minis- try previous to making the annual assessment — the amount thus raised by subscription to be deducted from the whole amount to be raised. III. Any member refusing to pay his assessment shall, at the close of the year, be subject to the action of the church for violation of church covenant without prev- ious labor. IV. It shall be the duty of each member, subject to be taxed, to prepare and hand to one of the trustees, when de- sired, a list of the real estate and personal property, sub- ject to be taxed, owned by him, on the first day of January 103 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH of each year, with a statement of the amount he is in- debted,, which shall be deducted from his said list in assess- ing. If any member subject to be taxed shall refuse to give in his list when requested, it shall be the duty of the trustees to assess him such amount as they shall believe equitable. January, 1853. The assessment plan abandoned. Sub- scription paper circulated. January 5, 1859. Subject of changing method of rais- ing funds debated. January 19, 1859. Slips to be sold and subscription paper circulated. January, 1863. A manual was published, with this about finances: 1. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to collect and pay over all the funds to the church, but in no case without an order from the trustees. At the annual meeting he shall make a report of all the receipts and disbursements, his accounts having been previously audited by the clerk of the trustees. 2. It shall be the duty of the trustees to hold the property and manage the pecuniary affairs of the church, according to the laws of this state. Said trustees shall be subject at all times to a directing vote of the church and shall have no power to buy, sell or mortgage or transfer property without a vote of the church. The Board of Trustees shall make an annual report of their doings to the church. 3. Notice of business relating to the raising or disposition of funds shall be given from the pulpit on the Sabbath before any such business shall be finally acted upon. January, 1876. Collection envelopes were offered for those who would use them. (For a short time in 1881 no collection was taken at the evening service.) November 3, 1916. The every member canvas was adopted and Duplex envelopes began to be used. Previous to the canvass, at the annual church dinner, pledge cards are at each plate and many use these, and thus lessen the labor of the canvass. 104 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE PARSONAGE As early as January, 1859, there was talk of buying or building a parsonage. Not until 1894 did it crystalize into deeds. On March 25, 1895, Catlin Cook offered to sell to the church a lot on the corner of Thompson and South Church for half its value, $350. The trustees gladly accepted his offer. The parsonage was built at once and was first occu- pied, in 1896, by the Rev. Edwin More, Jr. and family. THE DINING HALL A temporary building at the fair grounds, in which to serve meals during the Bureau County Fair, had been put up annually by the men of the church. In August, 1894, the permanent dining hall was built in which the united membership of the church caters to the gastronomic needs of the crowds who come to the fair, thereby adding each year a tidy sum to the general fund. While this is primarily a money making enterprise, the week's contact, shoulder to shoulder in homely domestic service, is found to reveal abilities not suspected, and cre- ate friendships that are a lifelong joy. A FEW BUSINESS ITEMS February 14, 1849. Voted that persons riding to church have the privilege of building horsesheds on the west end of the lot. July 14, 1869. Voted a deed to Mrs. Keyes, for a house, "as a donation. " August 1, 1894. Voted to build a dining hall at the fair grounds. January, 1907. Voted to install a telephone in the church. May 23, 1907. Voted to abolish horse sheds. 105 Laborers in the Vineyard THE MINISTERS THE DEACONS THE DEACONESSES THE TRUSTEES THE TREASURERS THE HISTORICAL SECRETARIES THE CLERKS LABORERS IN THE VINEYARD MINISTERS Rev. Lucian Farnham, October, 1835-October, 1838 Rev. Owen Lovejoy, October, 1838-December, 1855 Rev. Nathaniel A. Keyes, January, 1856-January, 1857 Rev. S. D. Cochran, - January, 1857-July, 1858 Rev. W. B. Christopher, - October, 1858-May, 1859 Rev. Samuel Day, - February-October, 1860 Rev. H. L. Hammond, - - May, 1861-May, 1862 Rev. D. H. Blake, - July, 1862-March, 1864 Rev. Flavel Bascom, - March, 1864-March, 1869 Rev. Rowland B. Howard, - June, 1870-July, 1875 Rev. Richard Edwards, October, 1875-October, 1884 Rev. Stephen A. Norton, November, 1884-October, 1891 Rev. Elihu H. Votaw, November, 1891-April, 1894 Rev. Edwin More, Jr., - October, 1894-July, 1898 Rev. James H. McLaren, October, 1898-January, 1903 Rev. John W. Welsh, - April, 1903-January, 1910 Rev. Benjamin M. Southgate, - - 1910-1911 Rev. Harold E. Parr, - March, 1912-January, 1915 Rev. Henry J. Lee, - April, 1915-February, 1923 Rev. Robert J. Watson, February, 1924-September, 1927 Rev. H. William Stiles, - November, 1927 109 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH LUCIAN FARNHAM Rev. Lucian Farnham was the first pastor of the Hamp- shire Colony Congregational church. He was a graduate of Amherst College and Amherst Andover Theological Sem- inary. He came to Illinois in 1830 under the auspices of the American Home Missionary Society. He took charge of the church near the close of 1833 and was installed pastor October 21, 1835. He was a good Bible scholar and was witty and vivacious. He labored most faithfully for the prosperity of the church and community and his minis- try was able and effective, but he dwelt more on the legal aspects of the gospel than upon its invitations and tender appeals. He was therefore to be counted among the 1 'Boanerges" rather than the sons of consolation, faithful and uncompromising rather than winning and conciliatory. He was an outspoken abolitionist and it is suspected that his vigorous pronouncements on the subject of slavery were the cause of the withdrawal in 1837 of twenty-four members to form the Independent Congregational Church, now the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton. Mr. Farn- ham was also a stern disciplinarian and records show that gossip and non-attendance upon the ordinances of the church were summarily dealt with. During his pastorate in spite of privations and embarrasments of pioneer life the church kept up the weekly prayer meeting and the Sunday- school, built a comfortable house of worship and added to their membership, eighty-two by letter and forty on con- fession of their faith. In the summer of 1838, because of a throat trouble, Mr. Farnham asked to be released for a season and he en- gaged Rev. Owen Lovejeoy to supply his pulpit for six months. In the spring of 1839 not being able to resume his labors, and desiring to go east, the pastoral relation- ship was dissolved at his own request. The last days of his life were spent in Newark, Illinois. On his seventy- 110 REV. LUCIAN FARNHAM DR. FLAVEL BASCOM HON. OWEN LOVEJOY DR. RICHARD EDWARDS LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS fifth birthday, July 9, 1874, after two days illness he fell asleep, saying shortly before the end, "I shall spend part of my birthday in heaven!" He is buried in Oakland Ceme- tery, two and a half acres of which he himself gave to the church for a burial place. OWEN LOVEJOY When it became necessary for Mr. Farnham to find a supply for his pulpit, while he searched for health, Provi- dence seems to have provided one. Owen Love joy was a young minister looking for a position. He had come to Princeton with no definite purpose and was glad to be of service to both Mr. Farnham and the church. He was en- gaged to preach for six months. At the end of that time Mr. Farnham was still unable to take up the work and re- signed. Mr. Love joy was at once asked to become pastor of the church and in August, 1839, he accepted the call. He had not been ordained and a council was called for October 24, 1839, for that purpose. He belonged to the old order of preachers — was what is commonly called "ortho- dox". He believed in a God who guides men and nations, in salvation through the atonement of a Divine Christ; in the rejuvenating power of the Holy Spirit. He had no doubt of the inspiration of the scriptures. He had vitriolic language for the rum seller and the slave holder. He preached what he believed regardless of what the people believed and his grand old mother who sat down in front encouraged him with her deep voiced "amens". He loved people and this was no gesture for the good of the cause. He was truly a great preacher, a great pastor and a great friend. For seventeen years he swayed the hearts and minds of this church and community. Then he listened to the larger call of the nation and Congress heard the voice that always rang true to freedom and righteousness. On April 2, 1864, weeping people followed his body to Oakland Cemetery, but his spirit of uncompromising fidelity to truth has been a blessing to the church. Ill THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH NATHANIAL ABBOTT KEYES Nathanial Abbott Keyes was the third pastor of the church. He was a native of New Hampshire, a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a student at Andover and Lane Seminaries. September 26, 1839, he was married to Mary Pettegrew and in January, 1840, they sailed for Syria where for four years he was a missionary of the American Board. Health reasons compelled a return to the United States. For three years he was in New England. In 1847 he went to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where for eight years he was pastor of the German Reform Church. In 1855 he was en- gaged to supply the Hampshire Colony Church for one year. Mr. Keyes was a typical New England clergyman, austere, spiritual, other-worldly. He seemed too far above ordinary humanity to really touch those to whom he min- istered. He was with them but not of them. After the fiery oratory and great hearted humanity of Mr. Love joy this was too great a change and at the close of the year Mr. Keyes accepted a call to the Congregational Church at Griggsville, Illinois. On the eve of removal to that place he contracted pneumonia and was suddenly removed from earthly labor to heavenly reward. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery as are his wife and two daughters. In July, 1869, the church deeded to Mrs. Keyes a house in which the family had a home until they one by one went to the Father's House. S. D. COCHRAN S. D. Cochran, the fourth pastor, came in January, 1857, and was here until July, 1858, when he accepted a call to another church. "His preaching was clear and discrim- inating, enlightening and convincing through understand- ing, quickening the conscience and aiming to turn men from sin unto God and build them up into a true Christian manhood.'' During his ministry fifty-one were added to the church, twenty-seven on confession of faith and twen- ty-four by letter, 113 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS W. B. CHRISTOPHER W. B. Christopher was called in October, 1858, and ac- cepted the call and began work. A church at Galena in- sisted that they had a prior claim and he was obliged to yield to their demands leaving Princeton in May, 1859. Some of the church members resented this and insisted on trying to recapture Mr. Christopher. When other candi- dates were presented they still voted for Mr. Christopher. SAMUEL DAY Samuel Day was given a majority call in February, 1860. He accepted and entered upon his labors only to find many disturbing conditions and resigned in October of the same year. Now the Christopher adherents made a strong effort to secure a unanimous vote to call him to the pastorate. He declared he would not accept a "majority call" and it is said the matter came to a vote fourteen times in as many church meetings before it was finally dropped. During these troublous days Albert Ethridge, princi- pal of the Dover Academy, rendered valuable assistance as a pulpit supply. H. L. HAMMOND In May, 1861, Rev. H. L. Hammond of Chicago was asked to come to try to smoothe out the difficulties. He came and told the church their differences were "not worth a hill of beans" and that if they would promise not to speak of them even in their bed-chambers, for one year, he would serve them for that time. They promised and doubtless kept their promise. National events soon obliterated local troubles. Lincoln called for soldiers and Princeton gave of her best. Mr. Hammond preached and talked emancipa- tion. The church listened sympathetically and prayed for the downfall of slavery. After the "National Fast Day", Sep- tember 26, 1861, a petition to President Lincoln was drawn up and signed by many urging him to free the slaves, as an 113 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH effort to end the war. This is supposed to be the first communication of the kind he received. Before the year was ended, Mr. Hammond said the last words on more than one soldier's grave. During these stirring days, regular church work was not forgotten and some yet remember the Bible stories, without names, that he told to the chil- dren. They were afterward published in book form. His adult Bible class work was of great worth. After the bat- tle of Shiloh he was called to help the Sanitary Commis- sion; on his return to Princeton he was asked to become pastor of the church, but declined, to accept a larger posi- tion with the Chicago Theological Seminary. D. H. BLAKE In June, 1862, D. H. Blake received and accepted a unanimous call and was installed July 16, 1862. During the winter of 1862-3 he invited Dwight L. Moody, a young Y. M. C. A. man from Chicago, to come to Princeton and hold some meetings. He came, and Mrs. Camilla Dunbar Richardson told, years afterward, how nervous the young man was over these meetings and how she and her hus- band got down on their knees and prayed with him before they went. It is believed that this was the first time Mr. Moody did any work outside of Chicago. On the first Sab- bath of May, 1863, twenty-one young people united with the church, as the result of these meetings. Mr. Blake started a young people's meeting which was held in the 1 'James Smith Academy" Building. Mr. Blake resigned in March, 1864. FLAVEL BASCOM Flavel Bascom was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, Jan- uary, 8, 1804. He graduated from Yale College in 1828 and from Yale Theological Seminary in 1832. He was one of the ten men who were called the "Yale Band," grad- uates of Yale Seminary, who came west as home mission- 114 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS aries with the purpose of laying Christian foundations for future building. He was ordained by the Sangamon Pres- bytery in Sangamon, 1833, as an evangelist. In the winter of 1839-40 he came to Chicago and was pastor of a Presby- terian church, thus, until January, 1850. Then until 1855 he was in Galesburg, Illinois, with the "First Church of Christ". After some missionary work he came to Dover, Illinois, in 1859. Here he served the church and was one of the prime movers in establishing Dover Academy, of blessed memory. At Galesburg he had given much wise council to the founders of Knox College. He accepted a call to the Princeton church in March, 1864, and until March, 1869, made the spiritual interests of this community his chief interest. He was influential in the organization of the township high school and served for some years on the Board of Education. Dr. Bascom was a young man's friend and is so remembered today by men who are no longer young. "He was deeply and actively interested in all Christian enterprises, was an earnest promoter of anti- slavery and temperance reform, of strict Sabbath observ- ance, of missions and Bible study. He was an able, faith- ful and successful minister of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ". Dr. Bascom served as trustee of Dover Academy, of Beloit and Knox Colleges and of the Chicago Theological Seminary. At the close of his life he returned to Prince- ton for the waiting time. He died on August 8, 1890, and was laid to rest in Oakland Cemetery where his wife and some of his children also wait the great day yet to come. ROWLAND BAILEY HOWARD The tenth pastor of the Congregational church of Princeton, Illinois was Rowland Bailey Howard. He was a brother of Gen D. D. Howard of the Civil War and found- er of Howard University, Washington, D. C, and of Chas. H. Howard, editor of "The Advance." He was born in Leeds, Maine, on October 17, 1834. He prepared for col- 115 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH lege at Yarmouth Academy, graduated from Bowdoin Col- lege in 1856. He attended Albany Law School (1856-57) and was graduated from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1860. On August 21, 1860, he married Mary Ellen Patten of Bath, Maine. He was ordained at Farmington, on October 11, 1860, and was pastor in that church until 1870. In June, 1870, he came to Princeton where he stayed un- til July, 1875. During his pastorate there were three weekly prayer meetings, a teachers' meeting and a month- ly missionary meeting. The latter was held the first Sun- day evening of each month. A little paper published by him is still cherished by some of the members. It con- tains a list of the church members, of the officers of the church and Sunday-school, also the covenant and confes- sion of faith, statistics of benevolences and additions to church membership, and other interesting data with a few devotional and helpful paragraphs. Collection envel- opes were used the first time on January 26, 1873. Horse sheds were built in September, 1874, and proved a joy to the country folk. A new communion service was purchas- ed in 1875 and the old one given to the A.M.E. church of Princeton. Mr. Howard had the sorrowful duty of con- ducting the funeral services for twenty-two of his adult church members during the five years of his pastorate. His own wife died on November 15, 1871. Being a man of deeply sympathetic nature these experiences told plain- ly on him. On September 12, 1873, Mr. Howard married Helen Julia Graves of Farmington, Maine, and brought her here to help care for his three motherless children. After leaving Princeton Mr. Howard held pastorates at East Orange, New Jersey, 1875-1879; Rockford, Mass- achusetts, 1879-1881 ; and Pigeon, Cove, 1882-1885. He was Secretary of the American Peace Society from 1884 until his death, was a delegate to the Peace Congress in Paris, 1889, in London, 1890, and in Rome, 1891. In Rome, Italy, he was ill and his labors added to 116 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS the troubles. He died there of exhaustion following an operation for the removal of an abcess, January 25, 1892. He was associate editor of "The Advance" from 1875 to 1882. He published two books, "The New Sym- pathy of the Nation" in 1887, and "Electricity of Sermons", 1891. RICHARD EDWARDS Richard Edwards, the eleventh pastor of the Prince- ton Congregational church, was born December 23, 1882, in Cardiganshire, Wales. He was the eldest of Richard and Ann Jones Edwards' ten children. He came with the family to Ohio in 1833. His early life was full of pioneer hardships, but by strenuous efforts he succeeded in com- pleting the course of study at the State Normal School at Bridgewater, Massachusetts in 1845. Later he graduat- ed from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, with honors. He was engaged in educational work in Massachussets until 1857 when he became president of the city Normal School of St. Louis. In 1862 he accepted the presidency of the State Normal University of Normal, Ill- inois. After a dozen years in that school he had a strong- desire to preach the gospel. Almost weekly he occupied some nearby pulpit. The Congregational church at Prince- ton was without a pastor and gladly availed themselves of his services. In January, 1876, this church gave him a call to become their pastor. He had found the double demand of class room and pulpit too serious a tax upon his strength and so resigned the presidency of the Nor- mal University to accept the Princeton call. He said in later years that he had always thought if the gospel were presented in the right way it would be accepted. He was the more readily persuaded to accept a pastorate because he wanted to try out his own theory of preaching. His sermons were intellectual treats, spurring men to high ideals and right living. They are still remembered by 117 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH some who heard them. In the winter of 1876-77 a great spiritual uplift came to the church in the "Hallenback revival". Many were truly "born again" and forty-eight new members came into the church. Dr. Edward was deeply impressed by the messages given at this time. He himself said he "was converted". Whatever he meant, it is certain that his sermons had a new note of spirituality and consecration that often took his hearer to the very gate of heaven. Dr. Edwards was a power in the community as well as a leader in the church. He served on the Board of Education. He lent his voice and influence to every good work in the town. As a guest in the home he was de- lightful. To meet him on the street was a pleasure and his friendly handclasp was a thing to remember. The eight years of his ministry made a deep and lasting im- pression on the church and community. Failing eye-sight demanded a change and on September 10, 1884, his resig- nation was accepted with sincere sorrow. No sketch of Dr. Edwards would be complete without some mention of dearly beloved Mrs. Edwards. After her death a friend wrote, "Dr. Edwards belonged to the nervous impulsive energetic, positive, type with tremendous vitality that made the air electric, but what shall we say of the noble woman who stood shoulder to shoulder with him through all the strenous years? She was so well poised, so calm under all circumstances, so self contained at all times. Most justly might she be termed the balance wheel of the family". After leaving Princeton Dr. Edwards did some educational work. He was State Superintendent of Public Instruction for four years at Springfield. After retiring to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1893 he was president of the Brokaw Hospital trustees, frequent- ly conducted services, was superintendent of the Sunday- school, taught a Bible class, made addresses before relig- ious and educational assemblies, was president of the 118 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS County Bible Society. He died at Bloomington, Illinois, March 17, 1908. STEPHEN ALISON NORTON Stephen Alison Norton was the eleventh pastor of the church. He was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania, June 9, 1854, into a family that claimed a long line of clear thinking men. His father served as chaplain in Sherman's army and at the close of the war went to New Richmond, Wisconsin, with his family, where he was pas- tor of the Congregational church. Stephen Alison Norton taught a country school at the age of sixteen and money earned in this way and by summer work on the farm en- abled him to enter the newly organized school at North - field, Minnesota, known as Carleton College. After five years here with interims of manual labor, to provide the wherewithal for expenses, he entered Amherst College and was graduated in 1878 with Plii Beta Kappa honors. After a year at Hartford Theological Seminary and two years at the Congregational Theological Seminary in Chicago, he received his B. D. from the latter Seminary in 1881. He was ordained at Amboy, Illinois, October 6, 1881, and in June of that year he married his class-mate at Carleton, Therina L. Hunt. He had been three and a half years at Amboy, when his son Paul was born. He accepted the call to the Princeton church in Novemebr 1884. Because of the New England back ground of both Mr. Norton and the church this proved a most satisfactory association. He said in his farewell sermon, " I came determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified". God abundantly honored this decision by adding to the church ninety-six members on confession of their faith and fifty-six by letter during his seven years' pastorate. On September 8, 1886, a tiny eight months old daughter died and was buried in Oakland and Mrs. Norton's health began to be seriously threatened. At last in October, 119 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH 1891, Mr. Norton resigned in order to seek more kindly climate in the orange groves of California. While he was pastor of the First Congregational Church at San Diego a fine new building was erected. Mrs. Norton's health steadily failed and on March 1, 1897, she finished the earthly life. In 1899 Mr. Norton married Mary F. Pen- field of Rockford, Illinois, and their daughter Dorothy was born in 1901. In 1902 Mr. Norton was called to the First Congregational Church of Woburn, Massachusetts, where he spent twenty happy years. In 1922 he decided to retire from active service and went with his wife and Dorothy to California, but was not yet permitted to rest. The church at Manhattan, California, wanted his help and for three years, during which time a church building was completed, he served them well. At last in 1926 he built him a home in Claremont and laid down pastoral duties. In 1927 Mrs. Norton died. Mr. Norton and his brother, Edwin C. Norton, opened a school for boys in 1927 of which Frank M. Sleeper, Dorothy Norton's husband, is head master. Mr. Norton has made his home with the Sleepers since his wife's death. In 1897 Carleton College honored him with the degree of Doctor of Divinity. While at Woburn he was director of the Congregational Educa- tional Society, the Congregational Publishing Society and a corporate member of the American Board. He also served as president of the Boston Congregational Club. He died while asleep on January 4, 1930. He wrote just a day or so before the end, "If I were to live my life again, I would choose to do it as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ." E. H. VOTAW EUCHOLA V. PORTER Elihu Hillis Votaw was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, in 1836, of Quaker parentage. At the age of two years his parents moved to Jay County, Indiana, where he 120 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS grew to manhood. He was graduated from Amherst Col- lege in 1869, and was ordained a Congregational minister in 1874 at Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Votaw's first churches were in the suburbs of Cleveland, and in 1892, after sev- eral successful pastorates in states of the Middle West, he accepted a call to the First Congregational Church in Princeton, Illinois. Mr. Votaw was an especially gifted and scholarly man; a thoughtful student not only of the Bible, history and literature but of the vital topics of the day. He was in sympathy with modern Biblical scholarship, but used its results with such care and wisdom as to commend the gospel of Christ to all who came under the influence of his preaching. His was a positive message to men of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. During his ministry in Princeton sixty-two names were added to the church roll, twenty of which were on profession of faith. Mr. Votaw was also interested in community life and while in Prince- ton founded and named the Belteonian Club, a literary or- ganization which survived him many years. Reverend Votaw left Princeton in 1896 and after five years of min- istry in Iowa retired from active service and returned to Princeton to spend his remaining days. His death oc- cured after a brief illness upon March 4, 1902, at the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. 0. H. Porter, and interment was in Oakland Cemetery. Mr. Votaw was married in 1859 to Miss Harriet Weber, a woman of charm- ing personality and rare Christian character. Ever the true comrade and helpmate of her husband, she played no small part in helping him to achieve success in his pastoral work. EDWIN MORE Edwin More, the fourteenth pastor of the church, was born of Scotch parents in Delhi, Delaware County, New York, February 21, 1852. Very early his parents moved to Brooklyn, New York, and here in private schools he had 121 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH his preparatory education. He was graduated from the Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He practiced law in New York City for fourteen years. In 1883 he married Anna Hoyt Reynolds of Aurora, Illinois, and found in her companionship, strength, courage, and comfort all the days of his life. She is still at the home in Seattle. His father was strongly opposed to religion and pro- hibited any church attendance or reading of the Bible. Af- ter Mr. More was thirty years old he happened, by chance, to pick up a Bible, and, opening to Isaiah, began to read and became so absorbed that he read on and and for hours. From that day he was a constant Bible student. Church at- tendance soon followed and in about a year he made a public confession of his faith in Christ, uniting with the Pilgrim Congregational Church of Brooklyn, New York. The pastor of this church, Rev. Samuel H. Virgin, became his life long friend and adviser. It was his influence that led Mr. More to undertake the work of the ministry. He entered the Congregational Theological Seminary at Chi- cago in 1888 and was graduated in 1891. From 1894 to 1898 he preached a clear and faithful gospel in the Prince- ton pulpit. His sermons showed his fine legal training. He ever threw his whole soul into the doing of any Christian service, be it great or small. Not long after leaving here failing health necessitated a move to the Pacific coast. There for nearly twenty years so far as strength permit- ted, he cared for needy home missionary churches, giving the best he could to the "least of them". After a losing fight for health he gladly answered the call of his Master on January 13, 1924. JAMES H. McLAREN Rev. Jas. H. McLaren, the fifteenth pastor of the church, was born at Bay Fortune, Prince Edward Island, September 26, 1863. His parents were of Scotch descent 122 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS "with just enough Irish to make it interesting". His education was obtained under difficulties and at various institutions of learning. His first years of preaching were done while carrying on studies in nearby colleges. He was ordained on August 12, 1890, at Phillips, Missouri. He was called to the Princeton church in the fall of 1898 and remained till December, 1902. The slight burr on his tongue made him a delightful reader of Scotch literature. Good audiences came to listen to his messages. While here he published his first book, "Put Up Thy Sword". He wrote several books on history and religion and many poems. A few years after leaving Princeton he entered the larger field offered by the Chautauqua platform where he proved a popular speaker. His home after 1913 was in Pasadena, California, where he died in 1928. His widow, Mrs. Glen- nio Lane McLaren, survives him. JOHN WALLACE WELSH John Wallace Welsh was born in Almira, New York, February 25, 1875, and with his family went to Newton, Kansas, in 1882. In the schools of Newton his education be- gan. After a year in Southwest Kansas College he came to Northwestern University where he received his B. A. in 1901 and M. A. in 1902. He had already done home missionary work in Kansas and during his university course he supplied various Chicago churches. He came to Princeton in April, 1903. At once he impressed these people with his fine personality. He preached and prac- ticed a gospel of faith and confidence. His mid-week messages were carefully prepared and were a source of strength to the many who came to hear him. He organized and carried on a children's church and made sure that the children understood the meaning and responsibility of church membership. He was a sympathetic and under- standing pastor. The Billy Sunday meetings in January and February of 1906 found in him a strong supporter 123 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH and later he was associated, for two years, with Mr. Sun- day in his evangelistic work. An insistent call from the California Ave. Church of Chicago won him from Prince- ton in December, 1909. Since then Mr. Welsh has held several pastorates, notably one at Wheaton, Illinois, where he also served as acting president of Wheaton College after President Blanchard's death. He was over seas in Y. M. C. A. work. He has also been associated with Bible Institute w r ork and is now field secretary for the Chicago Bible So- ciety. BENJAMIN M. SOUTHGATE Benjamin Southgate was born in Woodstock, Vermont. His early education was in the school of that town. He was a "Key Man" from Williams College, Williamstown, Massa- chusetts. After teaching a short time he entered the Con- gregational Theological Seminary at Chicago and in 1896 received his D. D. He came to Princeton in January, 1910, from Toledo, Ohio, where he had been for some years Asso- ciate District Secretary of the Congregational Sunday- school and Publishing Society. This connection with Sun- day-school work and being in Marion Lawrence's great Sun- day-school in Toledo, Ohio, gave him an unusual vision of the value of work with young people and the place and power of the Sunday-school in the life of the church. He soon stirred new interest in the Sunday-school lesson by questions on the lesson, which were printed on the last page of the weekly church bulletin. These were to be answered and returned to the teacher. He also introduced the plan of excelsior membership, excelsior and star classes and the Bible salute which still form a part of the opening exercises of the Sunday-school. He was interested and helpful in the young people's organization. The church cabinet composed of the officers of the church met once a month for prayer and council. He was a diligent Bible student and brought to the mid-week meeting messages from the old Book that were comfort and joy to those who heard them. The 124 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS weekly church bulletin contained in addition to the pro- gram for the day items of interest to church people. Some of these have proved valuable in determining dates of certain events. Mr. Southgate accepted a call to Hannibal, Missouri, in January, 1912. During the eighteen years since then he has held several pastorates; at Rochester, Mississippi, he saw a fine new church building completed ; in ten years at Algona he had the joy of receiving two hundred and seventy new members into his church. He is now pastor of the Congregational church at Britt, Iowa. HAROLD E. PARR Harold E. Parr, the eighteenth pastor of the church, was born in Birmingham, England, February 8, 1887. His early education was in the public schools of Birmingham. He came to the United States in 1908 and entered the University of Chicago, passing from there to the Congre- gational Theological Seminary of Chicago. He was grad- uated from the Seminary in 1912. He was ordained in the Wellington Ave. Congregational Church, Chicago, May 7, 1912, and immediately began his work at Princeton. With his winning personality and the enthusiasm of youth he soon won many friends. He had a remarkable pulpit voice and his singing was a delight. Music was a joy to him and he brought to his people an appreciation of our grand old hymns and tunes that was contagious and last- ing. The young people rallied about him, willing to do whatever he advised. He had a keen appreciation of the best literature and was able to adapt the words of wise men to the every day needs of the people he addressed. In the fall of 1915 a church in Waterloo, Iowa, offered at- tractions he could not resist and he resigned this pulpit, returning in June to claim Ruth J. Makutchan, a Prince- ton girl, as his bride. In February, 1918, he accepted a call to the New England Congregational Church of Aurora, Illinois, and in November of the same year became a vic- 125 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH tim of that scourge, the "flu". His body was brought to Oakland, Princeton for burial, November 27, 1918. HENRY J. LEE Henry J. Lee, the nineteenth pastor of the church, was born in Liverpool, England, April 9, 1888. His early education was in the Council School and the Evening Con- tinuation School of that city. At fourteen he began to earn his own bread and butter. He was converted in the old fashioned way at sixteen and claims that this exper- ience has never been regretted and gives him sympathy for those who cannot point to the day and hour. At twenty he became assistant pastor of the Protestant Reforms Church in Liverpool. Here he was associated with the Rev. George Wise, a great and good man, whose wise counsel and rich personal influence have ever been a source of strength. Mr. Lee came to the United States in 1910 and entered the Moody Bible Institute from which he was grad- uated in 1912. From there he went to the Congregational Theological Seminary of Chicago and received his B. D. in 1915. (Central University of Indiana gave him his B. A.) He began preaching at twenty and was a "student pastor" during all his student days, financing his education in this way. On May 28, 1914, he was married to Olive Muton of Mayfair, Illinois. He accepted the call to Princeton in April, 1915, and for eight years preached a vigorous gospel of faith. Because he believed what he said his words found lodgment in the hearts of his hearers. His daughter Hen- rietta was born here October 15, 1917, and his wife, gentle Olive Muton Lee, died during the "flu" epidemic of March 1920. In August, 1921, a young woman with whom he had been associated in Christian work in Liverpool, came across the sea to renew that experience. Mr. Lee met her in New York and they were married August 29, 1921. With her charming English speech and her fine cultured mind she has proved a blessed helpmate, Early in 1923 Wo- 126 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS burn, Massachusetts, tempted Mr. Lee to a New England experience but after two years a call of the west was heard and since October, 1925, he has been pastor of the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. JAMES ROBERT WATSON James Robert Watson was the twentieth pastor of the church. He was born in South Shields, England and came to the United States in 1913. He is a graduate of Coulton College, Northfield, Minnesota and of the Congregational Theological Seminary in Chicago. He accepted the call to the church in February, 1924. He had high ideals of a minister's duty to the community and was connected with many of the social circles of the town. He was president of the Lion's Club. During the winter of 1925 he solved the problem of the evening services by conducting a Sun- day Evening Club. He brought to these meetings outside speakers and good audiences came to hear their messages. He listened to a call to the larger field at Lombard, Illinois and resigned his pulpit in September, 1927. HUBERT WILLIAM STILES H. William Stiles, A. B., D. B., the present pastor, came of an educated family; his father, mother, aunt, brother, three sisters, wife and her brothers and sister, and his daughter are all Oberlin graduates. His father and mother were members of Charles G. Finney's church in the days of the anti-slavery agitation. His father, a Civil War veteran, and later a Congregational minister, died in middle life leaving his wife with a family of five children to bring up and educate as best she could. Hu- bert William Stiles graduated from Oberlin College in 1896 and from Oberlin Seminary in 1899, studying under ex-President James Fairchild, Henry Churchill King and Edward I. Bol worth. His first pastorate was at Ada, Minnesota, where the 127 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH church prospered and built a good little brick church of late English Gothic style. After seven years he went to Dundee, Illinois, serving there ten years and receiving more than two hundred into membership and building a brick parsonage, after putting a pipe organ of unusual quality in the church. A few months after retiring to a farm in Wisconsin, his wife, who had been in failing health, died. There he married again, remaining in all ten years, running a Hol- stein dairy farm, until his daughter was graduated from college, when he was induced to return to Ada, Minnesota, to become again the pastor of the church which had been his first charge. Having worked in only two former parishes, about ten years in each, he came to Princeton where, instead of seeking merely to increase the church membership, he is trying to deepen religious life by preaching a way of Christian living that freely and honestly takes into ac- count present day knowledge and that is yet truly religious in its motive and outlook. He believes that civilization is approaching a reformation more sweeping than that which ended the middle ages in the time of Luther, and that out of it will come a church based squarely on Jesus' way of living. 128 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS DEACONS At the organization of the church in Northampton, Massachusetts, three deacons were chosen: E. S. Phelps, Dr. N. Chamberlin and A. Whitmarsh. Anthony, Wm. C. - - 1850-1866 1869-1887 Emeritus, 1887 Allen, Chas. S. - - 1856-1858 Boltwood, H. L. - - 1871-1878 Booth, Wm. H. - - 1918-1928 Emeritus, 1929 Bryant, Wm. C. - - 1907-1918 Chamberlin, C. N. - - 1831-1833 1838-1848 Charlton, Joseph - - 1864-1866 Colton, C. D. - - 1860-1862 1868 Cook, Caleb 1842-1843 1845-1848 1871 Coppins, S. R. (Died in office) 1918-1930 Craig, J. 0. (Died in office) 1903-1904 Dunbar, F. F. - - 1879-1903 Emeritus, 1907 Etheridge, Albert - - 1867-1868 Ferris, E. S. - - 1907-1910 Field, J. C. - - 1921 Greener, M. J. - - 1916-1917 Hall, C. P. - - 1873-1878 129 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Harrison, R. D. - 1911-1930 Emeritus, 1931 Leeper, H. B. - 1878-1902 Emeritus, 1903 Phelps, E. S. 1831-1833 1846-1847 1859 Phelps, Geo. R. - 1887-1893 Phillips, Isaac - 1903-1906 Porter, Ora - 1903-1907 Reeve, Lazarus - 1840-1887 Emeritus, 1888 Richardson, J. P. (5 months) 1869 Robinson, George - 1884-1887 Rugg, Geo. - 1905-1906 Smith, Alby (Died in office) 1838-1840 Smith, Eli, Sr. - 1867-1870 Smith, Eli, Jr. Smith, G. T. iqoq ... XVLdxf 1888-1906 Emeritus, 1907 Smith, Geo. _ 1907-1916 Smith, Jas. H. (Died in office) 1878-1879 Shepherd, Wm. - 1897-1902 Steele, John - 1908-1911 Stewart, F. W. _ 1918- Swengle, Alfred - 1894-1896 Whitmarsh, Alvah . 1831-1833 Winship, Horace - 1834-1835 Woods, Elisha - 1834 130 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS DEACONESSES First elected in January, 1882. 1882-1910 Mrs. Lydia A. Anthony Mrs. Julia R. Phelps 1911 Mrs. Lydia A. Anthony Mrs. F. W. Stewart 1912-1914 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. J. C. Field 1915-1916 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Miss Pauline Schenk 1917 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. Reeve Norton 1918-1922 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. J. C. Field 1923 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. L. M. Perkins Mrs. Chas. Gibbs Mrs. E. H. Harris 1924-1925 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. J. C. Field Mrs. Chas. Gibbs Mrs. E. H. Harris Mrs. Charles Davis 1926-1929 Mrs. Alfred Norris Mrs. Eli Smith Mrs. E. H. Harris Mrs. Charles Gibbs Mrs. Charles Davis 1930 Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. Eli Smith Mrs. E. H. Harris Mrs. Charles Gibbs Mrs. Charles Davis 131 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH TRUSTEES Allen, C. P. 1865-1870 Allen, C. S. 1842-1844 1851-1853 Anthony, W. C. 1843-1845 1873-1877 Bascom, C. P. - (Died in office) 1888-1896 Barrows, L. C. 1867 Bates, E. C. 1878 Brigham, Sylvester, Sr. --.-.- 1836 Brigham, Sylvester, Jr. - 1914-1922 Brown, Geo. - 1845-1846 Bryant, John - 1881-1883 Bryant, W. C. 1898-1906 Burr, Jas. E. - 1850 Burr, Solomon - 1839-1841 1851-1852 Campbell, Guy - 1924- Campbell, Joseph - 1844-1846 Carey, Rufus - 1847 1862-1864 Carlson, Albert - 1923- Carse, Christopher - 1839-1841 Carter, Geo. - 1884-1885 Chamberlin, N., Jr. 1836 Charlton, John - 1863-1867 Chapman, Arvis - 1852-1854 Clapp, Seth - 1841-1843 1866 Colton, CD. 1836-1837 1867-1872 Colton, Egbert - 1844-1866 Colton, Lewis 1847-1849 1851-1859 132 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Cook, Caleb - 1836-1837 1850-1852 1858-1863 1867-1872 Converse, Wm. - - . 1850-1853 1864-1866 1873-1874 Cowan, Wm. - 1845-1848 1849 Crittenden, John - - 1842-1844 1861-1863 Curtis, Henry 1865-1866 Decker, Chas. - - (Died in office) 1902-1904 Denham, Butler - 1840 Doolittle, Joel 1834 1847-1849 Downing, Herman - - - 1858-1861 1873-1876 Dunbar, C. J. - - - - 1889-1906 Dunbar, S. M. - - - - 1855-1857 Dunbar, F. F. - - - - 1874-1879 Duncan, F. C. - - - - 1913-1914 Everett, J. S. - - - - 1853-1855 Field, J. C. 1911-1914 1916 Ford, G. R. - (Died in office) 1880-1887 Fox, Miles ----- 1923-1926 Gay, John M. 1837-1839 Gibbs, Chas. - 1917 Gibbs, Harry - 1907-1915 Gray, Hermas - 1891-1911 Hanson, Harry - 1917-1922 Harrington, Geo. B. 1892-1893 Harrison, R. D. - - - - 1884-1910 Haviland, Andrew - - - 1854-1855 Hinsdale, S. D. - - - - 1856 133 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Hodgman, Romanus - - - 1868-1873 Johnson, David - 1927 Kilbourn, Allen ... - 1858-1861 Kinsman, Denison - - - 1860-1862 Lovejoy, Owen - 1856 Merriman, J. L. - - - - 1855-1857 Morris, C. J. - - - - 1903-1911 Morris, H. M. - - - - 1860-1888 Olds, Justin - 1852-1854 Paddock, S. G. - - - - 1879-1880 Pettee, George - 1912-1918 Perkins, L. M. - - - - 1912-1926 Phelps, Chas. - - - 1838-1840 1862-1864 Phelps, E. H. - - - - 1842 1867 Phelps, E. H. - - - - 1842-1867 Phelps, E. Strong - - - 1877-1879 Prince, J. W. - - - - 1886-1889 Reeve, Lazarus - 1834 1837-1839 Richardson, J. P. - - - 1875-1878 Robinson, George - 1878-1887 Scott, Egbert - 1893-1901 Shugart, J. J. - - - - 1907-1912 Shugart, Wm. - 1921-1923 Smith, Alby - 1836-1838 Smith, Andrew - 1846-1848 Smith, Eli 1838-1840 1849-1851 1859 1863-1865 Smith, Elijah - 1836 Smith, G. T. - - - - 1868-1877 Smith, Jas. H. - 1848-1849 Smith, Sidney - - - 1848-1850 134 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Stacy, William - 1869-1872 Stem, Ed. 1888-1891 Stewart, F. W. - - - - 1897-1913 Swengle, Alfred - 1885-1890 Taylor, J. P. - - - - 1916 Waldo, M. B. - - - - 1846-1848 1854-1856 Walter, John - 1840-1842 1846-1847 1857 1864-1866 1873-1884 Whipple, William - 1878-1883 Williams, Geo. - - - 1919-1920 Wilson, T. L. - - - - 1927 Winship, E. C. - - - - 1864-1867 Winship, Horace - 1849-1857 Wood, Elisha - 1834 135 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH TREASURERS "COLLECTORS" Eli Smith 1835 E. H. Phelps 1838 "January 22, 1840. Voted that the trustees elect a treasurer from their number." "December 13, 1843. Voted to elect the treasurer at the annual meeting of the church." TREASURERS E. S. Phelps - 1845-1846 None recorded - - 1847-1853 Justin Olds - 1854-1862 W. C. Anthony 1863-1865 Sidney Smith 1866 W. C. Anthony 1867-1868 Wm. Converse - 1869-1870 Rufus Carey - 1871 L. J. Colton - 1872 Wm. C. Stacey 1873-1875 F. F. Dunbar 1876 F. W. Waller - - 1877-1885 G. T. Smith - 1886-1889 Douglas Moseley - 1890-1911 A. H. Ferris - 1912-1927 Chas. Davis • - 1928-1930 Forrest Peterson, assistant 1928-1929 Edna B. Anderson, assistant 1930 Edna B. Anderson 1931- 136 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS HISTORICAL SECRETARIES At first this was an office of the Sunday-school alone. L. J. Colton compiled a history of the Sunday-school from 1833 to 1874 which is with other records in F. W. Stewart's vault. About 1899 the report began to be called for by the church. Later it became a part of the regular program of the Annual Meeting and the historical secretary was elect- ed by the church. The following have served in the capa- city of historian : L. J. Colton - 1875-1876 John P. Richardsosn March-December, 1876 E. S. Phelps - 1877-1879 John P. Richardson March-December, 1876 Julia R. Phelps - 1887-1908 Ella W. Harrison _ 1909-1922 Camilla B. Ferris - 1923 CLERKS Amos C. Morse - (Died in office) 1831 N. Chamberlin - 1831-1833 Asher Doolittle . 1834-1836 N. J. Chamberlin _ 1837-1839 C. D. Colton - 1840-1843 Alvah Whitmarsh - 1844-1849 C. D. Colton - 1850-1859 L. J. Colton - 1860 E. H. Phelps . 1861-1863 Rufus Carey (Died in office) 1864-1873 C. D. Colton _ 1874-1880 Romanus Hodgman _ 1881-1888 H. N. Morris - - - 1889-1892 C. P. Allen (Died in office) 1883-1897 Ella W. Harrison _ 1898-1901 Reeve Norton - 1902 Emma C. Harrington 1903 Reeve Norton - 1904-1910 Sylvester Brigham - 1911- 137 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH CHURCH OFFICERS, 1931 PASTOR Rev. H. Wm. Stiles DEACONS F. W. Stewart Eli Smith J. C. Field Frank Hoffman R. D. Harrison, Deacon Emeritus DEACONESSES Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. Eli Smith Mrs. J. C. Field Mrs. C. H. Gibbs Mrs. Clara Allen Harris TRUSTEES T. L. Wilson William Shugart Albert Carlson Charles H. Gibbs M. S. Campbell J. C. Field TREASURER Miss Edna B. Anderson Miss May Booth, Assistant HISTORICAL SECRETARY Miss Camilla B. Ferris CLERK Sylvester T. Brigham USHERS E. C. Prior Myron Hoover, Bruce Grant, Richard Campbell, Max Pannebaker, Ned Sapp, Roger Piper, T. A. Fenoglio, Forrest Peterson, Paul Stiles, Albert Carlson, Albert Carlson, Jr., Chester Williams, M. G. Campbell. [Editors' Note — This report and the two following were available too late for proper placement.] 138 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS THE SUNDAY SCHOOL OFFICERS, 1931 BOARD OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION Rev. H. Wm. Stiles Miss Camilla B. Ferris Miss Carrie Dunbar Miss Martha Stiles Mr. T. A. Fenoglio Mr. S. T. Brigham, Clerk OFFICERS Miss Carrie Dunbar, - Supervising Superintendent Rev. H. Wm. Stiles, Superintendent of Worship Period Mrs. F. W. Stewart, - Superintendent of Missions Mrs. C. J. Morris, - Superintendent of Home Dept. Mrs. Wm. Shugart, - Superintendent of Temperance Mrs. Eva M. Greener, - Supplies Secretary Mr. T. A. Fenoglio, - Executive Secretary-Treasurer DEPARTMENTAL WORKERS ADULTS Mrs. Clara Allen Harris, Supt. Mrs. Ella W. Harrison Miss Etta Shepherd Mr. T. L. Wilson Miss Evelyn E. Graham SENIOR Miss Camilla B. Ferris, Supt. Rev. H. Wm. Stiles Mr. David Johnson INTERMEDIATE Miss Gerda Bouxsein, Supt. Miss Mary L. Uthoff Miss Minnie Warnecke JUNIOR Miss Martha Stiles, Supt. Miss Alice Hock Mrs. Katherine B. Mclntyre Mr. Chester C. Williams PRIMARY Mrs. C. R. F. Billeaux, Supt. Mrs. Franz Simon Mrs. B. M. Gibbs Miss Lillian Ruttan 139 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH BEGINNERS Mrs. Joe Cowley, Supt. Miss Hazel Staples Miss Helen Louise Hewitt CRADLE ROLL Mrs. W. J. Sidle, Supt, Mrs. Joseph Pratt Miss Marjorie Sidle OFFICERS OF THE AUXILIARY SOCIETIES 1931 THE LADIES' AID Elsie H. Nichols, - - - President Etta Shepherd, - Vice-President Elizabeth M. Cowley, - Secretary-Treasurer THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY Clara Allen Harris, - President Mattie Makutchan, - - Vice-President Ina Lowe, - Secretary Pauline Schenk, - Treasurer, Foreign Missions Fannie V. Wilson, - Treasurer, Home Missions THE ELIZABETH CURTIS GUILD Mary Stanard, ... President Ada H. Evans, - - First Vice-President Dorothy Anderson, - Second Vice-President Martha Stiles, - Third Vice-President Ina Lowe, - Secretary Altha K. Griswold, - - - Treasurer THE DELTA ALPHA SOCIETY Edith Cowley, - President Elsie Sidle, - Vice-President May P. Booth, - - Secretary-Treasurer 140 The Members of the Church 1831-1931 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH charter Memb' The Charter Members —OF THE— Hampshire Colony Congregational Church ORGANIZED IN NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS MARCH 23, 1831 EBENEZER STRONG PHELPS AND ANNE, HIS WIFE AMOS C. MORSE AND LUCINDA, HIS WIFE ELISHA WOOD AND ABIGAIL, HIS WIFE SAMUEL BROWN DANIEL BROWN DR. NATHAN CHAMBERLIN LEVI JONES AND LOUISA, HIS WIFE JOHN LEONARD ALVAH WHITMARSH AND NAOMI, HIS WIFE MARIA LYMAN ELIJAH SMITH CLARISSA CHILDS SYLVIA CHILDS DEACONS— E. S. PHELPS DR. N. CHAMBERLIN ALVAH WHITMARSH CLERK— AMOS C. MORSE 142 ELI SMITH, JR. The only living child of any charter member. On March 23, 1928, forty members of the First Congregational Church of Princeton, Illinois, took part in an historical pageant commemorating the founding of the Hampshire Colony Church in Northampton, Massachusetts, March 23, 1831. This pageant was writ- ten by Ella W. Harrison, a former historical secretary of the church, and presented under the direction of Mary C. Ferris Following the pageant a bronze tablet was unveiled upon which are engraved the names of the eighteen charter members of the Hampshire Colony Church. The tablet, the gift of the Ladies' Aid and of the grandchildren of Eli Smith, is placed in the west wall of the church vestibule. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1831 Ebenezer S. Phelps Mrs. Ann Phelps Amos C. Morse Mrs. Lucinda Morse Elisha Wood Mrs. Abigail Wood Samuel Brown Daniel Brown Levi Jones Mrs. Louisa Jones Alvah Whitmarsh Mrs. Naomi Whitmarsh Elijah Smith Clarissa Childs Sylvia Childs Nathaniel Chamberlain John Leonard Maria Lyman 1834 Joel Doolittle Mrs. Deborah Doolittle Mrs. Sarah Winship Horace Winship Eunice Childs Elisha Wood Mrs. Abigail Wood Solomon Burr Obediah Carlton Mrs. Polly Carlton Asher Doolittle Mrs. Sally Doolittle Laura Doolittle Harriet Doolittle Selbie Doolittle Mrs. Susan Farnham Lazarus Reeve Mrs. Nancy Reeve Nathaniel Chamberlain Mrs. Eliza Chamberlain 1835 Washington Webb Chauncey D. Colton Marian Burr James B. Carlton Louisa C. Bryant Mrs. Adeline P. Bryant Mrs. Henrietta R. Bryant Alby Smith Mrs. Sally Smith Emily Smith Edwin G. Smith E. Hinsdale Phelps T. Amanda Pratt Egbert E. Colton Heman Downing Robert A. Leeper John M. Gay Mrs. Sarah Gay Eli Smith John Leeper Mrs. Fidellis Leeper Lewis Colton Mrs. Harriet Newell Mrs. Mary Jones 1836 Jonathan Colton Mrs. Betsy Colton Mrs. Jane Drake Mrs. Elizabeth Drake 143 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH W. R. Dewey Mariah Smith Christopher G. Corss Mrs. Polly Corss C. F. Winship Sylvester Brigham Edmond F. Doolittle John N. Carlton James C. Doolittle Mrs. Mary Jane Wood Aurelia Langworthy Melissa J. Doolittle Emily A. Wiswall Mrs. Electa Smith Lydia Ann Beals Sally Smith Lucy N. Chamberlain Caleb Cook Cornelius C. Corse Joseph Brigham Lyman Stowell Eliza Brigham Alanscon Dickenson Eli Wood Samuel L. Fay David Robinson Mrs. Philanda Robinson Mrs. Eunice Doolittle William Cowen Mrs. Emaline Cowen Mrs. Clarymon C. Flint Mrs. Louisa Reeve Charles Phelps Mrs. Mary Strong Phelps A. M. Dickson Mrs. Amanda Stowell 1837 Ormal A. Smith Mary Corss Amanda Miner Caleb Pierce Mehitable Corss Mrs. Pluma Chamberlain Mrs. Nancy Smith Mrs. Amy Wilson Mrs. Eliza Walter Jane Smith Andrew Smith James Smith Mrs. Wealthy L. Pool Butler Denham Mrs. Eunice Denham Noadiah Smith Mrs. Rebecca Smith Ann L. Smith Phoebe P. Smith Seth Clapp Asseneth Hitchcock John Walter Mrs. Lucy Cook Franklin W. Winship Mary E. Winship Julia E. Winship 1838 Mrs. Mary G. Phelps Eben S. Phelps Mrs. Anna Phelps Eben S. Phelps, Jr. James R. Phelps Mary Ann Phelps Benjamin Mather 144 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS David Wells Benjamin Porter Caroline Smith Lucetta Winship Irene Dorr 1839 Melinda Smith Mrs. Anna Smith Charles S. Allen Mrs. Emily D. Allen Nancy L. Smith Hester A. Coulter Ralph Winship 1840 Mrs. Elizabeth Love joy Sybil Love joy Mrs. Sarah Dewey Gould Mrs. Sarah Leonard Gould Elizabeth Pierce Gould Edmond Seely Mrs. Hannah Phelps 1841 Mrs. Elizabeth Wiswall John W. Donaldson Joseph Campbell Joseph R. Fairfield Mcaijah Triplett John Porterfield Julia Hitchcock Calphena Cooley Sarah Mcintosh Milicent Burt Clarissa Reeve Elizabeth Mann Martha Jane Winship Mary Flint Diana S. Smith Nath. Chamberlain III John F. Whitsell Chester A. Smith Mrs. Eliz. Chamberlain Rebecca Wilson Luther Denham Mrs. Elizabeth Denham George R. Phelps Harriet N. Phelps William ML Barton George Reeve Mrs. Margaret Miller John W. Donaldson James H. Smith Elizabeth Robinson William C. Anthony Mrs. Jerusha Anthony Jonathan S. Colton Mrs. Betsy Colton Elisha Wood Mrs. Mary Wood Cecelia Wood John Crittenden Mrs. Betsy G. Crittenden Nathaniel F. Smith Mrs. Rachel Smith Hubert Smith Harriet E. Smith Mrs. Susanna Campbell Louisa Smith George Brown Mrs. Susan Brown Joel Doolittle 145 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Mrs. Deborah Doolittle Rufus Carey Mrs. Mary K. Carey 1842 Asher Doolittle Mrs. Eunice Doolittle Sidney Smith Mrs. Laura Smith Delia Lambertson Eli Wood Amelia Smith Martin B. Waldo Mrs. Lucy Waldo Mrs. Fidelia L. Colton 1843 Mrs. Lydia 0. Thorp Lucelia Thorp Delia A. Alden Susan Neal James Perry Jeremiah Morrell James H. Warren 1844 David Akin Haviland Jeremiah Hopkins Merritt Madison B. Lockwood Catherine S. Allen Maria Mann Mrs. Margarette Love joy Mrs. Flora Buchen Francis Buchen John E. Love joy Laura Sheldon Melissa Doolittle Elias Gilbert Susanna Gilbert Sarah Gilbert James Porterfield Mrs. Eliza Porterfield Edward C. Winship Mrs. Ann Winship Samuel Dunbar Mary A. Whitmarsh Lewis C. Whitmarsh Samuel P. Whitmarsh Robert A. Leeper William Leeper 1845 Eliza Jane Dunbar 1846 William Converse Mrs. Elizabeth Converse Mrs. Emily K. Colton Elvira Wood Eleanor Wilson Justus Burr 1847 Julianna McDonnell Mrs. Charlotte Carpenter Charlotte Carpenter Mrs. Hannah Dunbar Mrs. Jemina Hinsdale 1848 Mrs. Patty Smith Mrs. Catherine Ballou Mrs. Mary Eliza Winship Samuel Graham Emily McNitt 146 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Frances E. Denham Eliza Jane McConihe Harriet A. Smith Mary Ann Smith Lyman Wood Eben S. Phelps III Cornelius Denham Calvin E. Winship 1849 James E. Burr Julia S. Miller Harriet Carpenter Rebecca Jones Susan Jones 1850 Josiah Webster Mrs. Mary Webster Mrs. Louisa C. Olds Mrs. Harriet C. Everette Mrs. Sarah S. Harrison Mrs. Caroline F. Newell Mrs. Mariah Merritt Elizabeth Mann 1851 Deloro Antoynette Potter Mrs. Isabelle Wilson Harriet Wiswall Marcia Allen James Ratrie Justin H. Olds Robert Tonkinson Isaac H. Carpenter Mrs. Lucinda W. Bubach Mrs. Mary J. Murry Isabella B. Gilman Elizabeth J. Walter George W. Haviland Samuel D. Hinsdale Mrs. Lucina Chapman Robert Woodburn Mrs. Woodburn Clarissa Smith Edna M. Smith James S. Everette Lucien F. Smith Justus Stevens Mrs. Lurena Stevens Lucien H. McConihe Martin Tappan Eliza Kibby Mrs. McConihe Thomas Hope Mrs. Lucinda Burr Lucius C. Gilbert Mrs. Rebecca Gilbert Mrs. Angeline Hope Mrs. Susan Gilbert Sarah Gilbert David E. West Mrs. Minerva West Elizabeth Phelps Elizabeth Colton Lucretia M. Colton Eveline L. Colton Arvis S. Chapman Andrew J. Haviland James T. Stevens Mrs. Elizabeth A. Stevens David B. Hale Mrs. Jane F. Hale 147 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Lucy Smith Susan M. Smith Charles Stevens Mrs. Ann Stevens Judson M. Waldo James M. Winship Mrs. Mary A. Winship Joel J. Doolittle Mrs. Mary E. Doolittle 1852 Samuel H. Ward Mrs. Caroline A. Ward Timothy H. Ward Lucinda Ward Mary Ward Jeannette Lease Elias Gilbert 1853 Mrs. Margaret Blood Mrs. Amelia Steel Owen Love joy Marcica M. Smith 1854 James L. Merriam Mrs. Angeline Merriam Mrs. Jane Cobb Mrs. Caroline Childs Mrs. Rosanna Allen Mrs. Alby P. C. Converse Mrs. Martha B. Wheeler Rebecca J. Ferry Ozias E. Chapman Mrs. Sarah Chapman Freeman F. Bacon 1855 Henry Charlton John Strong Mrs. Phoebe Ann Strong 1856 Mrs. Mary Denham Heman Downing Mrs. Rachel Downing Mrs. Cynthia E. Smith Isaac B. Smith Mrs. Emily C. White Helen V. White Isabelle M. White Victoria M. White Mrs. Sarah Winship Julia E. Winship Edward Keyes 1857 Newell Bacon Henry McElfish Elizabeth Stevens Joseph Charlton, Sr. Mrs. Hannah Charlton Joseph Charlton, Jr. Mrs. Catherine Charlton Charles H. Colton Mrs. Fanny R. Smith Eliza Ward Elizabeth Cragier Jane Cook Mrs. Martha M. Delano John Charlton Mrs. Martha Charlton Samuel D. Cochran Mrs. Ermina D. Cochran 148 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Catherine M. Phelps Nancy Walter Lucy Smith Emily N. Smith Elizabeth Smith Caroline Slomp Sarah Converse Hannah Leeper Mary A. Cook Julia M. Ferry Arury D. Wilcox Louisa Anthony Hannah M. Saul Allen Kilborn Mrs. Lucinda J. Kilborn Mrs. Mary Rawson 1858 Dennison Kinsman Mrs. Mary Kinsman Mrs. A. E. Prouty Mrs. Mary Dunbar Mrs. Flavia A. Austin Edward M. Fisher Mrs. Jane Fisher Lydia A. Allen Charles Faxon William A. Fisher Mrs. Eliz. Worthington Emeretta N. Faxon Mrs. Laura L. Anthony Agusta L. Tupper Calvin E. Winship 1859 Gustavus Gunn Mrs. Mary Keyes Harriet L. Keyes Helen C. Keyes Sarah Olds Mrs. Sarah Charlton Sophia Schlumpf Elizabeth M. Johnson 1860 John P. Richardson Mrs. Sarah Wood Camilla B. Dunbar Mary L. Dunbar Rosanna M. Kinsman Rebecca Smith Carrie B. Tucker Mrs. A. S. Hills 1861 Harvey Allen Mrs. Luceba Allen L. S. Smith Mrs. Eliza Smith 1862 Julia L. Olds Esther C. Archer Louisa Everette Edward D. Bangs Mrs. Amelia Bangs Joseph Charlton, Jr. Mrs. Catherine Charlton Mrs. Mary Ann Burr D. H. Blake Mrs. Charlotte Blake Mary Ellen Phelps Lucinda C. Colton 149 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH 1863 Joel J. Doolittle Mrs. Mary E. Doolittle Sarah J. Smith Mrs. Flora B. Carpenter Mrs. Angeline Dee Mrs. Lora Ann Clark Mrs. Ellen C. Vansant Mrs. MJary B. Whitzell Silas F. Osborn Mrs. Jennie S. Osborn William M. Winship Annie E. Charlton Ellen Linderblood Elizabeth J. Blanchard Amelia Carey Francis Carey Sylvia Smith Lillias A. Winship Mary Hare Caroline L. Winship Louise White Marilla A. Dunbar Nellie M. Jamison Henry Curtis Phoebe Curtis Mrs. Orpha Stacy George Hawley Mrs. Laura M. Hawley Wm. C. Stacy Mrs. Persis Stacy 1864 Flavel Bascom Mrs. Ruth P. Bascom Ann A. Pruden Romanus Hodgman Mrs. Helen W. Hodgman Villeroy E. Smith Mrs. Lydia M; Smith Charles P. Allen Gilman T. Smith Mrs. Georgiana V. Smith Laura N. Smith Charles F. Winship Mrs. Sarah E. Winship Susan L. Britt John F. Bascom George S. Bascom Cordelia White Alice H. Colton Harriet Pendleton Flora J. Colton Emily E. Parsons 1865 Rhoda C. Knapp Susan Williams Henry M. Bascom Sidney Smith, Jr. Cornelia Phelps Lucia M. Colton Alcinda Burris Sarah Paddock Lavinia E. Colton George W. Strong Mrs. Elizabeth A. DeGroff Helen E. Stoutenburgh Mary E. Stoutenburgh L. C. Barrows Mrs. C. M. Barrows Lewis C. Whitmarsh 150 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Mrs. Eunice Downer Mrs. Margaret Jeanes Phoebe J. Curtis Lucy A. Phelps Sarah E. Stoutenburgh Alby S. Colton Buel P. Colton Charles A. Smith John Gardner Mrs. Elizabeth A. Gardner Mrs. Orilla S. Cook Lucy Cook Anna M. Converse Mrs. Mary Kinsman 1866 Albert Ethridge Mrs. Albert Ethridge Maggie Hall Austin Wiswall Joseph R. Anthony Edwin D. Converse John H. Morse Thomas N. Cunningham Richard D. Harrison Susan M. Smith Mrs. Eliza Ann Sower Harriet Sower Mrs. Ellen Sower Mrs. Mary A. Burr 1867 Mrs. Malvina Manrose Lucy S. Denham Sarah M. Love joy Mrs. Pluma A. Ellis David W. Washburn Mrs. Persis P. Washburn Henry L. Boltwood Mrs. Helen E. Boltwood 1868 E. J. Schenk Mrs. Frederika W. Schenk Mrs. Sarah Jane Christy Martin Carse Mrs. Rebecca Carse Oscar Stoutenburg Mrs. Mary Stoutenburg Charles P. Bascom Sarah W. Wiswall S. W. Maltbie Mrs. K. B. Maltbie 1869 Alice Newport 1870 J. W. Boomhour Mrs. Mary Bates Charles P. Hall Mrs. Lucia C. Hall Dr. Daniel Jones Mrs. Mary Jones Mrs. Mary Ann Newport Mrs. Mary G. Simmons Mary C. Bannister 1871 Milton Carter Mrs. Jane E. Carter J. A. Foster Mrs. J. A. Foster Mary B. Outman Lois A. Phelps 151 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Ralph McClintock Mrs. Ralph McClintock Richard R. Pierce Mrs. Melissa F. Chapman Mrs. Mary S. Carter Charles J. Dunbar Everett Bryant Mary E. Don wing 1872 Alvin S. Clapp Alfred S. Sayles Lottie Ayers Emma Norman Mrs. Elizabeth Hubble Mrs. Catherine McElroy Catherine E. McElroy Mrs. Bella Bell Mrs. Clara Morgan Mrs. Dr. Livingstone Mrs. Marietta Ford R. B. Howard L. C. Ward Mrs. Eliza Gilmore Mrs. Jerusha A. Scott Mrs. Sarah Betts 1873 Hannah Metcalf Mrs. Kate A. Dunbar Frank F. Dunbar Mrs. Phoebe Stoutenburg Lizzie Steuchel Mrs. Frances M. Torrence Elizabeth Ballou Mrs. Mary Johnson Mary Norton Henry Mathews M. Eliza Jones Stella E. Clapp Evangeline W. Mears Isora L. Winship Anna J. Beach Emma J. Phelps Ada Colton Clara E. Allen Mrs. Anna Mears Mrs. Rebecca D. Simons David P. Howard James McClintock Mark C. Smith Joseph Steward Arvis Scott Chapman J. Frank Nickerson Mrs. Clara L. Crossley Morell M. Stacy Charles W. Carpenter Flora Downing Lucicen E. Page Mrs. Lucetta C. Page Mrs. E .E. Pierce George R. Phelps Mrs. Julia R. Phelps Mrs. Augusta M. Manning Mrs. R. B. Howard 1874 George A. Carter Mrs. Jane E. Clark Robert Greenhalgh Mrs. Maria L. Greenhalgh Henry Gibson 152 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1875 Richard D. Harrison Mrs. Ella W. Harrison Mrs. Eliza J. Cummings Frank W. Smith H. N. Morris Mrs. Susan Morris Sarah C. Huntley 1876 H. B. Leeper Mrs. Mary A. Leeper Samuel Bally Gertrude A. Henderson Mtalvina V. Hodgman Carrie E. Hodgman Ada Morris F. W. Waller Miss E. P. Robinson Mrs. F. A. Tabor Sarah S. Phelps E. Strong Phelps Mrs. Sarah A. Phelps Jennie Steckel Maria Okey Mrs. Hattie J. Smith 1877 R. E. Cutler Richard Edwards Mrs. R. Edwards R. A. Edwards Ellen S. Edwards Mary C. Edwards N. T. Edwards Mrs. H. M. Neeley Ella Outman Mrs. S. M. Hinsdale George A. Robinson Mrs. C. B. Robinson A. C. Worthington E. S. Worthington Jennie A. Worthington Frank M. Richardson E. P. Dean E. H. Torrence B. N. Loverin George H. Edwards C. B. Chapman W. A. Edwards Harry P. Phelps L. A. Laughlin G. R. Ford L. E. Hunt Addison Lowry Lucy H. Smith Kate Heintz Spencer Bally Alice Phelps Edwin G. Gilmore Orpha V. Ellis Odessa C. Ellis Addie R. Bryant Reeve Norton Will Sharp Willis Morris Jessie F. Fisher Louie Chapman William Walter Curtis David S. Phelps Lizzie Okey Mrs. Alice Van Velzer Clyde Smith 153 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Alby Smith Charles Leeper J. F. Kinsey Seymour Allen Bacon 1878 Charles S. Hubbell Allen A. Stone Mrs. Martha Stone Arthur Stone Minnie M. Stone John B. Dann George B. Harrington Mrs. Emma V. Harrington John Porter, Jr. Mrs. Margaret Dann 1879 Fred Mcintosh Florence Farnsworth Charles C. Warren Mrs. Cynthia Kennon Mrs. Lydia Bacon Mrs. Emeline Brown Lida Cottle 1880 Franklin W. Winship Mary E. Winship L. Marion Winship Mrs. Eliza J. Bally Xabie C. Bally Mrs. Harriet H. Chisholm Ines F. Chisholm Dessie Cooper Mary E. Colesberry Mrs. Eliza Dillon Mrs. Mary V. Dillon Emma Endner Eva Houck Mrs. Anna Masters Mrs. Catherine Ott Minnie Agnes Phelps Jessie A. Phelps Jennie Shering Mary A. Smith Mamie Stoner Fannie Wells Ida Wells Joseph Dillon Henry Interman William Lawson Harlan C. Masters Frank B. Newell Skiles Ott Fred T. Richardson Henry H. Seymour Nat Simons Elmer D. Stacy Herbert W. Stacy Harry H. Walker John H. Wiggins Percy R. Wood Henry N. Keener Mrs. Emily Keener John Campbell William M. Landreth Mrs. T. J. Stevens Mary M. Brown 154 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1881 Mrs. Hannah M. Phelps Albert Holbrook John W. Eastes Mrs. Laura E. Cauffman Blanch E. Fisher Mrs. Lucretia Sweet 1882 Mrs. Adelaide W. Colton Carrie B. Lathrop Vincent May Bubach Amanda Jane Shettel J. W. Prince Mrs. J. W. Prince John Hungerford Mrs. John Hungerford Hattie G. Hungerford Mrs. Louise Cutler J. M. McNair Mrs. Minerva McNair Michael K. Shettel Mrs. Leah Shettel 1883 H. Catlin Cook Mrs. Emily J. Cook Florence E. Cook Addie R. Bryant Mrs. Elmira W. North Levi W. Woodard Mrs. Sarah V. Pendleton Jacob R. Earnest Mrs. A. E. Earnest 1884 Margaret V. Smith Margaret E. Reed Florence M. Edwards Owen M. Edwards Ada M. Morris Harriet E. Winship Pauline S. F. Schenk Clara L. Schenk Catherine Houck Myra Hayes Camilla B. Ferris Charlotte E. Stoutenburg Harriet E. Newell William A. Stoutenburg Frank W. Schenk Harry W. Swengel Joseph H. Strock Mrs. Elizabeth B. Strock Alfred M. Swengel George F. Arnold Mrs. Laura B. Swengel Lemuel Paine Mrs. Harriet Paine 1885 Stephen A. Norton Mrs. Therina L. Norton Nettie May Lathrop George Byron Smith George B. Clark Edward L. Brown Mrs. Mary Ann Morton Mattie B. Clark Mrs. Elizabeth Harris Mrs. Harriet Cottle Charles C. Smith Mrs. Jessie F. Smith Edwin A. Vaughan 155 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Mrs. Julia C. Vaughan Julia Smith Alpha Ford Earnest Robert Henry Keener Louisa V. Reed John D. Reynolds Mrs. Mary J. Reynolds Charles G. Allen 1886 Mrs. Eliza Seckler Charlotte Seckler Lucy J. Smith Maria W. Bye Elberteen Foster Nettie Osborn Mrs. Augusta M. Marsh Mrs. Rebecca Walser Mrs. Fanny Stuchell Agnes M. Robinson Jennie Belle Clark Mrs. Lizzie M. Cowley 1887 Henry H. Forbes Mrs. Laura J. Forbes William Drake Mrs. Adelia Drake Bertha Mary Forbes Grace Phelps Louisa Stipp Augusta Johnson Catherine M. Chapman Nellie Louisa Thomas Edward Stem Edward Z. Mercer Charles J. Morris William Porter Stone Charles Crownover Edwin Z. Smith Douglas Moseley Mrs. Louise Moseley George L. Swengel Mfery Ann Jane Morton Caroline J. Evans Flavel Bascom Mrs. Ruth Bascom Florence Bubach 1888 Mrs. Martha T. Palmer John Smith Cook Warren A. Lathrop Dana Lynde Simons Godfrey A. Holzinger Sarah E. Kennon 1889 Newell Cook Mrs. Louisa Cook Ida A. Hamilton Alice Hock May Osborne Nellie Trimble Geneva Walser James Laughlin Mrs. Julia Lauglhin Margaret A. Bodfish Amanda C. Bodfish Frances G. Maus Mrs. Martha Butts Marion Laughlin 156 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1890 Anna C. Harwood Carrie Segur Clara Maude Walker William E. Paschen C. Fred Laughlin Hermas Gray Mrs. Lydia Gray Mae B. Reed Charles W. Field 1891 Mrs. Maria F. Johnson Mrs. Emma C. Dorr Mrs. L. K. Warren Egbert D. Scott Mrs. Lavinia Colton Scott F. M. Bussard Mrs. M. A. Bussard Charles P. Allen Mrs. Helen S. Newell Frances A. Denham Harry W. Swengel Mrs. Serena Winser Cynthia Headlee A. W. Brett Mrs. Minnie Votaw Brett Mary A. Dalton Charles E. Schenk John Prouty Samuel S. Evans E. Warren Harrison Robert H. Harrison Dolly I. Dean Minnie H. Newell J. 0. Craig Ella Craig Mrs. Oscar G. Pearson Maud Craig Myrtle Cole Mrs. M. E. Craig 1892 T. T. Wilson Mrs. Britomarte Wilson Mrs. Kate M. Ashley William C. Bryant Mrs. Mary B. Metcalf E. H. Votaw Mrs. Harriet W. Votaw Martha E. Votaw Enida M. Votaw Lyravine H. Votaw Ruth Votaw Mrs. M. E. Thornton Henrietta Thornton Mrs. Helen Ambrose Carro Ambrose Lucien E. Page Mrs. Lucetta Page Lottie L. Page Annette M. Page Joseph Brigham Reeve Norton Mrs. Ada Colton Norton Mrs. Mary A. Harris 1893 Mrs. Martha Crownover H. D. Steele Zepha Wilhite Alba M. Messenkop Mrs. Agnes Stoutenburg 157 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Mrs. Julia M. Rice Blanch Huntington Mrs. Carrie M. Huntington Mary Huntington Mrs. Gertrude Flowers 1894 Blanch Greenman Francis S. Harrison Mrs. Lydia Bryant Mrs. May Simons Mrs. Clara F. Smith Elizabeth Crownover Lora Gale Simons Bessie Peterson Anna Peterson Beva Wright Curtis Cauffman Hattie Weller Edward Carey A. V. Webster Ida Jester Edwin More, Jr. Mrs. Anna R. More Mrs. Waitie Walker Gray 1895 Jessie Pierce Garwood Minnie Naffziger Eliza M. Chapler A. G. Downer Mrs. Mary Downer Mary S. Halliday Nora Ellen Downing Edward C. Prior F. W. Stewart Mrs. Jennie T. Stewart Mary C. Ferris Mrs. Emma Mercer Martha F. Makutchan Gertrude B. Coddington 1896 Mrs. Meriam Watkins Jennie 0. Giesie Mrs. Ella Stimson Eli J. Davis J. R. J. Anthony R. D. Harrison, Jr. Mrs. Mary J. Smith Jennie A. Smith Ida Stimson Josephine Sower 1897 William Shepherd Mrs. Mary A. Shepherd Etta M. Shepherd Ella M. Baxter Abbie M. Wright Alice M. Landreth Flora Kate Sower Jennie Maude Smith Alice Julia Robinson Hattie Bryant Estella Mabel Downing Olive Logan Downing Bertha May Scott Clara Huntington H. W. Barr Mrs. M. A. Barr Warren E. Durstine George J. Ross Mrs. G. J. Ross 158 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1898 Ora H. Porter Mrs. Laura White Pratt Mrs. Bertha M. Evans Benjamin E. Josephson Mrs. Euchola V. Porter 1899 D. W. Wise Mrs. D. W. Wise Mrs. Ella C. Rood H. J. Rood D. 0. Barto Mrs. Lucy M. Barto Thomas Sisler T. P. Streeter Mrs. A. Lenander Mrs. A. B. Scott John H. Bryant Gertrude Stoetzel Mrs. Margaret B. Capron Hazen S. Capron Lillian Abbott 1900 Mary Seeburger George Pettee Mrs. George Pettee Mrs. Mary DeGroff Chas. Decker Mrs. Janette H. Decker William J. Decker Cora Decker M. Edna Decker Alice Norton Ruth K. Harrison Eva Callinan G. A. Rugg Mrs. G. A. Rugg W. W. Powell Mrs. Helen F. Powers Mrs. Olive S. McKane 1901 J. M. Steele Mrs. J. M. Steele Edith Steele Kate Steele Wm. B. Powers Mabel Ruth DeGroff Lucretia Steele Florence May New Grace Mary DeGroff Mrs. Elsie G. Nichols Florence M. Nichols Mrs. Nancy Wheeler Miss Grace Foster Mrs. Frederika Naffzigger E. H. Votaw Mrs. Harriet W. Votaw 1902 Isaac Phillips Mrs. Isaac Phillips Cora May Phillips Z. S. Hills Mrs. Susan Hills Mary A. Fisk Ida Lou Weirick Herbert M. McKee Mrs. Margaret P. McKee Mrs. Elizabeth E. Keith Harry Hanson Mrs. Grace B. Hanson 159 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Edward H. Harris Mrs. H. W. Cass Dee Howard Norton Homer Willis Stewart Mrs. Laura Barrett 1903 E. N. Page Mrs. E. N. Page J. W. Welsh Mrs. Mary W. Welsh Wm. H. Smith Mrs. Wm. H. Smith Eva Minnick Celia Minnick W. C. Pierson Mrs. W. C. Pierson Hart E. Walter Mrs. Edith W. Walter D. A. McMillan Mrs. Eva McMillan 1904 Mrs. M. B. Muzzy George P. Williams Mrs. Bertha C. Williams George L. Smith Minnie Morrison Wilson R. Warfield Mrs. W. R. Warfield Clara Cater Rhoda Copeland Mary Bennett Mrs. Amanda B. Shugart 1905 George Simons Fred Dunbar A. C. Stimson George Dunbar Mrs. Mabel B. Dunbar Laura Gibbs Dorothy Simons Elizabeth M. DeGroff Jessie R. DeGroff Agnes Stewart Williard Steele Albert Holmes Ferris Laura Sue Ferris 1906 W. J. Martin Mrs. W. J. Martin Clara E. Cowley Hazel M. Cowley Edith E. Sharp Ethel M. Sharp Iva E. Hensel Vilas V. Hensel Orville Messick Vera Gray Jean Gray Nathan Gray George H. Gray Louis L. Brown Henry D. Gibbs Mrs. Jennie L. Bryant Louise Bryant Frank R. Bryant Mrs. Lillian B. Bryant Rumana McManis Ruth M. Dunbar Harvey C. Smith Marjorie Vaughan Mrs. Kate E. Gibbs 160 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Kathryn A. Gibbs Harry A. Gibbs J. Judson Shugart Mrs. Cora B. Shugart Ina May Shugart Grace M. Shugart Helen R. Shugart Mary A. Triplet David Stephens Chester C. Smith Charles Alpaugh Charles H. Gibbs William M. Harris Raymond Hensel Fred Hedenschoug Arthur Wright Mrs. Susie Downing Exie Peterson A. Ward Greenwood Archibald Gibbs Roy Gibbs Charles L. Pendleton Harriet Grace Pendleton Fannie Shettel James H. Wilson Marjorie A. Best Max Helen Peterson Ada M. Harris Blanche M. Harris Holmes D. Ferris Freada Nelson Emma Harwood Bertha Lothridge Dorothy Lothridge Madge Peterson Ned Peterson Fred Gibbs Charles Moran Arvid Berg Harold Main Edgar Main Arthur Main Nina D. Main Charles C. Barrett Mrs. Katherine Barrett Mrs. J. H. Delano Edna Phelps Jessie E. Phelps Mrs. George P. Pettee, Sr. George P. Pettee, Sr. Mamie Pettee Parker J. Newell Howard G. Gibbs Mrs. Howard G. Gibbs Helen Perkins Godfry F. Anderson Mrs. Anna L. Anderson T. P. Gunning Mrs. Vernie V. Wright Mrs. Carrie Hensel S. R. Coppins Mrs. Frank Kramer Mrs. Charles Mbmert Glen R. Farley Joseph Lanktree Miriam Nichols Pearl Nichols Milton Smith Chester Williams Eula F. Williams Lola M. Struthers Janet E. Bryant 161 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH John G. Minnick Jennie M. Cottle Charles M. Lea Mrs. Lizzie Lea Ethel M. Lea Adrain M. Lea Mildred Norton Camilla K. Dunbar Ruth G. Huntington Joseph A. Huntington Hattie Darlene Moran Philip Gerner Mrs. Elizabeth Gerner Carl E. Gerner Hazel A. Gerner Henning Bjork Ruth A. Berg John J. Warfield Sydney D. J. Harrison Mrs. William M. Harris John A. Rudiger Althea A. Clark James White Mrs. Ida M. White Verne Makutchan Cecille Bell Bowman Edward S. Ferris Mrs. M. M. Kinney Rozell Kinter Mrs. Rozell Kinter Enoch Oberg Mrs. Enoch Oberg Alice Vickery Blanche Robinson Blanche Yarrington Mrs. Susie Yarrington Stella Yarrington Ruth Yarrington Grace Yarrington Edith Moscrop Katherine Shepard Joe S. Cowley Eli Smith Clarinda Smith Grace Smith Florence Smith William H. Booth Mrs. Ann E. Booth May Booth Mrs. Abbie J. Gunning H. M. McCray Mrs. H. M. McCray Vera McCray F. C. Duncan Mrs. F. C. Duncan Kate Duncan Harry Dunbar C. W. Messick Mrs. Margaret Messick Mary L. Uthoff 1907 Charles L. Trimble Mrs. Eva C. Trimble Ethel M. Lea Mrs. S. R. Coppins Henry 0. Morris Mrs. Henry 0. Morris Clark J. McManis Mrs. Laura McManis Lyle Garmen Everette D. Lowe 162 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Mrs. Everette D. Lowe Lillian Lowe Oberg Mrs. Adelaide Ward Mrs. E. L. Sargent Ava M. Gray Beulah M. Baie Hazel R. McCray Mary Denhnam Harry P. Phelps Mrs. Josephine Phelps 1908 Sylvester T. Brigham Byron Swarthout Mrs. Grace Lowe 1909 Melvin Griswold Mrs. Althea Griswold Mrs. J. E. Shawl Ray Shawl Ruth Shawl Joseph Pratt Mrs. Laura W. Pratt Louise Thomas Mrs. E. L. Sargent Merrill Reeve Norton Blanche Sargent Sue R. Essington Dorothy May Pratt Bess Ann Pratt Ellis Edward Pratt Mrs. Hannah Knox James Mclnnes Mrs. Ada Mclnnes Marianna McKee Hazel Hanson Herma Hanson Gladys Hanson Adelbert Mowry Mrs. Ada Mowry Claude Mowry Allen Mowry J. C. Field Mrs. Eva Field Helen Field J. LeRoy Strong Nora Anthony Mrs. Ina Nye 1910 F. W. Winbolt Mrs. F. W. Winbolt E. M. Stanard Mrs. E. M. Stanard Jessie Cook B. M. Southgate Mrs. Josephine Southgate Olive Southgate Paul T. Southgate Dorothy T. Southgate Vera Morgan Vida Morgan Beva Morgan Bessie Morgan Mary Lanktree Mary Wingert J. Massilon McConihe John M. Rambo Mrs. Florence B. Rambo 1911 Louis A. Garwood Howard E. Stimson 163 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Sidney J. Gray Howard W. Bryant David Verle Naugle Jacob Vivian Naugle Milton Hoover Mrs. Fannie J. Chester L. M. Perkins Mrs. L. M. Perkins Cora Perkins Emerson Perkins Mrs. Frances T. Roe Sumner Kasbeer Mrs. Sumner Kasbeer Guy Kasbeer Marguerite M. Pettee Harold Arthur Pettee Wilbur Griswold Roy Franks James Fletcher Mrs. Caroline M. Fletcher 1912 Nellye B. Nelson A. Geneva Nelson Evelyn C. Nelson 1913 Mrs. Anna Berlin Newton Berlin Irwin Berlin Harold E. Parr Anton A. Hallberg Mrs. Alice Kasbeer J. S. Nelson Mrs. J. S. Nelson S. Angie Murphy Adelbert Vickery Mrs. Anna Nellie Ross Camilla B. Ferris Maud Elizabeth Birkey Dorothy C. Miiller 1914 Geneva L. Wright Pauline H. Wright Blanche Landahl J. P. Taylor Albert E. Wagner Mrs. Linna M. Hock Harriet Beulah Greener Bessie A. Landahl Dee Howard Norton Mrs. Dee Howard Norton W. R. Shugart Mrs. W. R. Shugart Mrs. W. T. Naugle Mrs. Elmer Gross Charles Allen Gross Mrs. Laura C. Wilson 1915 Henry J. Lee Mrs. Henry J. Lee Morgan J. Greener Mrs. Morgan J. Greener Mrs. Roxanna Shifflett Charles Wixom Mrs. Charles Wixom Frank H. Wixom Roy R. Wixom Nellie A. Wixom Geneva L. Wright 164 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS 1916 W. G. Hallam Mrs. W. G. Hallam Mrs. D. H. Dean Paul Bennett Ferris James Albert Kasbeer 1917 David Johnson Lola Lewis Ruth Alexi Minnie Warnecke Harold Linn Harry Zable Wright Hedenschoug Arthur Hedenschoug Rubert Lewis Douglas Ferris Hugh Ferris Reo J. J. Fletcher Clyde Wixom Jessie Wixom Max Seelig J. Forrest Peterson Mrs. Mary Harrison James Herron Howard L. Warling Virgil Lee Warling Oscar Warling Mrs. Zena Shettel Vida V. Shettel Evelyn Ross Mrs. Oscar Warling Hiram E. Piper Viola L. Piper Dorothy M. Piper Donald Kay William Harrison Lillian Harrison Carolyn Howard Dorothy Morgan Ethel Harrison Lucile Stanard Mrs. Vernie M. Palmer Mildred Palmer Myron L. Cass Mrs. George Gray J. A. Yarrington Beulah Jensen Herma M. Jensen Taylor Jensen A. H. Pannebaker, Jr. Thomas Jensen Mrs. Thomas Jensen Gladys Jensen Mrs. Laura Howard Mrs. Maude Campbell Bessie Young Miles Fox Mrs. Miles Fox Mrs. Sarah Morgan Alma Bennett Mrs. Edna Pannebaker Elizabeth Kay Fred Warnecke Britton Anderson Harry Greenwood Sidney Bryant Walter Paschen Vernon R. Hoover 165 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH 1918 Joseph Miller Mrs. Joseph Miller Mrs. Eva M. Greener Lillian Ruttan Frank Hoffman Mrs. Frank Hoffman Gerald Hoffman 1919 Mrs. G. T. Carpenter D. W. Grant Mrs. D. W. Grant Guy L. Sharp Mrs. Guy L. Sharp Alice Mabel Sharp Anna Marie Oberschelp Mrs. Rosa Bachman Mrs. Max Peterson Sapp Alexander P. Smythe Mrs. Alexander P. Smythe Isabelle Phoebe Smythe Earl K. Smythe Sarah Grace Smythe 1920 Herbert L. Littlefield Mary L. Littlefield Esther G. Hooglund Anna Marie Hooglund Myrtle E. Pierson Lorena B. Campbell Alice L. Hock Gladys M. Booth Alice L. Anderson Katherine D. Barrett Marjorie E. Garvin Margaret Bruton Doris Bruton Ruth Elizabeth Morris 1921 Jane M. Smith J. H. Riley Mrs. J. H. Riley Mrs. Eunice G. Pratt Charles A. Davis Mrs. Charles A. Davis T. L. Wilson Mrs. T. L. Wilson Edwin T. Nichols Mrs. Edwin T. Nichols Mrs. Grace Clark Norris Marjorie Stauffer Theodore Wilson Margaret Helen Ennis Madeline Bachman Isabel Bryant May Bryant Charles P. Stauffer Mrs. Persis Stauffer Pauline Stauffer Geneva Brenneke Mrs. Jennie Brenneke Eleanore Rawson Richard Ferris Cloyd Riley Edwin Booth Helen Booth Robert Booth Earl Lewis Forrest Booth Frances Adams 166 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Jennie Burr Mrs. Grace Adams Mrs. Mary E. Houghton Mrs. Roy Gibbs Mrs. James Kasbeer Albert Carlson Mrs. Bessie M. Carlson Mrs. Mona Lee Anna R. Hoffman Marie Ruger 1922 Minnie Agnes Phelps Mrs. Elsie Edwards Sidle Kermit Sidle Roger William Harris Morris Guy Campbell Mrs. Luella Farwell Grace Farwell Elmer Conkling Mrs. Elmer Conkling Vivian Conkling Eugene Conkling Mrs. Eugene Conkling Frank Billeaux Mrs. Frank Billeaux Isadore Hawdon 1923 Violetta Wilson Margaret Pratt Warren Fox Lillian Bryant Richard Campbell Jeannette Kitterman Clayton Adams Viola Adams Carrie Dunbar Olive B. Pierce Mrs. Orrin Spaulding Mamie Hook Norman Weeks Mrs. Norman Weeks Percy Allen W. G. Hendricks Mrs. W. G. Hendricks Mrs. Anglett S. Haddock Joseph Findley Mrs. Joseph Findley Orrin Spaulding Antonio Fenoglio Mrs. Antonio Fenoglio 1924 Robert James Watson Mrs. Robert J. Watson Mearns A. Booth Mrs. Mearns A. Booth 1925 Marjorie May Simons Eunice Morse Charles Lester Booth Grace Carolyn Farwell Myron Curtis Hoover John Sumner Kasbeer Harvey A. Clark Mrs. Daisy L. Clark Helen Warnecke Mrs. Mary L. Lewis Mary Annette Page L. D. Coulter Mrs. L. D. Coulter Robert Dean Coulter 167 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Edna B. Anderson George Billeaux Albert Carlson, Jr. Aldine Duffield William Nichols Findley Miriam Findley Virgil Fox Gordon Kasbeer Ronald Peterson Ned Sapp Pearl Uthoff Ralph Crownover Kenneth Huffaker Roger Piper Roy Piper Mrs. Bess Pollard N. M. Elder Mrs. N. M. Elder Paul Elder Andrew Polland 1926 John Bouxsein Mrs. John Bouxsein Mrs. Anna Riley Gerda Bouxsein Mervin A. Johnson Beulah E .Wise Mrs. John McCall Helen Charles Glen A. Foster Jessie Harrison DeRose Mrs.' Herman Smith Alta Louise Smith Clarence Chelin Mrs. Clarence Chelin Mrs. Glen A. Foster Mrs. Grace T. Graham Evelyn E. Graham Dorothy Ann Morse A. E. Owens Mrs. Stella F. Owens Charles J. Greener Maurice Bouxsein Mrs. Maurice Bouxsein Carl Henry Bouxsein Helen L. Eastman 1927 H. L. Huffaker Mrs. H. L. Huffaker Jane M. Smith Mrs. Hugh Ferris Mrs. Percy Allen Charles Vroom Mrs. Charles Vroom 1929 H. William Stiles Martha Stiles Paul Stiles Mrs. Frank Peterson Mrs. Forrest Peterson Max Pannebaker Mrs. Edith L. Parker Ruth Parker Marian Hock Dorothy Hock Hazel Staples Janet Green Jack Kimberly Robert Bradley Jack Nickelson 168 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Charles P. Burr Melvin Hayes Marion Powell Helen Louise Hewitt Olive Story Charles Kasbeer Edward L. Campbell Harold Parr Dick Sapp Clyde C. Campbell [Note.] — Wherever a name occurs more than once, letters have been taken and later the member has reunited with this church. 169 Echoes of A Century A CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION A NEW ENGLAND SERVICE OF SONG A NEW ENGLAND DINNER AN HISTORICAL PAGEANT THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH An Appreciation The Church desires to express its indebtedness to all who have shared in the planning and production of the program of the Centennial Celebration. 172 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS GENERAL CENTENNIAL COMMITTEES HISTORICAL Ella W. Harrison Pauline Schenk Olive Pierce Jessie A. Phelps F. W. Stewart Carrie Dunbar S. T. Brigham BOOK Jessie A. Phelps, Evelyn E. Graham, Editors T. A. Fenoglio, Business Manager PROGRAM AND PAGEANT Minnie Agnes Phelps Camilla B. Ferris E. B. Cushing MUSIC Ozella Seward Grace Farwell Margaret Helen Paden DINNER Grace L. C. Norris Nancy Jane Phillips Mary L. Uthoff Eva B. Field Max Sapp Edna Pannebaker Elizabeth Ferris Katherine S. Gibbs HOSPITALITY Mary L. Uthoff Miriam Nichols Hazel Kasbeer Carrie Dunbar Bess Carlson PUBLICITY Minnie Agnes Phelps T. A. Fenoglio Mary L. Uthoff 173 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH limitation We hope you are interested in, and can attend the Centennial Celebration of the Old HAMPSHIRE COLONY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF PRINCETON, ILLINOIS which is being celebrated at the church Sunday, March twenty-second, and Monday, March twenty- third, nineteen hundred and thirty-one. On Sunday morning at eleven o'clock the sermon will be given by a former pastor. Sunday evening at seven-thirty a sacred concert of early American church music followed by an historical address. Monday, a noontime dinner at one o'clock with after-dinner talks and letters from former pastors and friends. Monday evening at eight o'clock a colorful pageant portraying our church history. Cordially yours, Invitation Committee, Rev. H. W. Stiles, Mrs. R. D. Harrison, Mrs. Alfred Norris, Mr. Eli Smith, Mr. Sylvester Brigham. 174 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS A NEW ENGLAND SERVICE OF SONG SUNDAY EVENING, MARCH 22, 1931 ARRANGED AND DIRECTED BY OZELLA SEWARD Grace Farwell, Accompanist. Margaret Helen Paden, Historian Melodeon Prelude - - - "In the Sweet By-and-By" Gertrude Skinner 1 Psalms— "Old Hundred" (1554) - - Puritan Chorus "Dundee" (1564) 2 Psalm 107 Mildred Shugart 3 Psalm with Interludes - - - "Lift Thine Eyes" Daisy Hayes 4 "Mear" (1726) - - - The First American Hymn Puritan Chorus 5 "0 Sleep, Why Dost Thou Leave Me" - - Handel (A favorite of Nellie Custis, step-daughter of George Washington) Ruth Stevens 6 "One Sweetly Solemn Thought" ... Ambrose Men's Double Quartette 7 "Flee As A Bird" - Dana Dorothy Trimmer 8 "Behold, There Shall Be A Day" - - - Wooler Orville Brokaw 9 "Thanks Be To God" Dickson "God of Our Fathers" Warren (A Centennial Tribute) Arthur Fleming, David Hamm, Mac Russell, Alex Smythe, Van Fossler, Chester Williams, Jack Best, Emil Swanson Harold Lowry, Trumpeter Historical Address - Rev. Vernon W. Cooke 175 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH A NEW ENGLAND DINNER THE CHURCH DINING-ROOM MONDAY, 1:00 P. M., MARCH 23, 1931 Toastmaster - Rev. H. Wm. Stiles Solo— "Listen To The Mocking Bird" - - Evelyn Ross Whistling Obligato by Margaret Helen Paden Greetings from the State Conference - Dr. Robt. J. Locke Greetings from the Local Churches - Rev. John Acheson Words from Former Pastors — Rev. Robert J. Watson Rev. John W. Welsh Solos ------- Ruth Stevens "Just For Today" "The Last Rose Of Summer" Letters from Former Members - - Ella W. Harrison Reminiscences — Dr. H. M. Bascom Rev. Chas. A. Nelson Others Closing Hymn - "Blest Be The Tie That Binds" 176 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS An Historical Pageant IN SEVEN EPISODES WITH A CAST OF ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PERSONS I RUMORS OF COLONIZATION IN THE "FAR WEST" II THE MEETING IN WARNER'S COFFEE HOUSE III VOLUNTEERS FOR THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH IV THE ORGANIZATION OF THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH V THE DOUBLE WEDDING AT CONWAY VI PIONEERING IN ILLINOIS VII THE FIRST GOLDEN WEDDING CELEBRATED IN PRINCETON 177 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH PRODUCTION STAFF Grace Farwell DIRECTORS Minnie Agnes Phelps Martha Stiles MUSIC Ozella Seward Margaret Helen Paden COSTUMES Margaret P. McKee Grace Bryant Kate Shepherd Gibbs Freada 0. Nelson PROPERTIES Edith Cowley Joe Cowley Max Sapp Grace Hoover Eva Greener Melvin Griswold Louise Mosely Sara Smythe Virden Sapp Myron Hoover Harriet Weller Orpha Ellis J. C. Field BONNETS Elizabeth K. Wilson Mary Stanard Miriam Nichols STAGE H. Wm. Stiles T. L. Wilson M. G. Griswold George Billeaux CURTAIN USHERS E. C. Pryor Myron Hoover Richard Campbell Ned Sapp T. A. Fenoglio J. Forrest Peterson M. G. Campbell Paul Stiles Bruce Grant Albert Carlson Albert Pannebaker Roger Piper Chester C. Williams Paul Stiles 178 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS EPISODE I RUMORS OF COLONIZATION IN THE "FAR WEST" 1831 CHARACTERS 1931 Ezra Stebbins, a skeptic, - - - E. B. Cushing Deborah Stebbins, his wife, - Mary Coman Cushing TIME: February 10, 1831. Early candle light. SCENE: A New England kitchen, Northampton, Massachu- setts. (Mrs. Stebbins, an elderly woman, is seen sitting by the fire knitting. Footsteps are heard and she rises as her husband enters bundled up with woolen scarf, mittens, etc., and with a basket on his arm. She helps him off with his wraps and busies herself get- ting him a cup of coffee, opening his basket, putting away the groceries, etc. Meanwhile the man removes his boots and puts on carpet slippers, talking as he does so.) Mr. Stebbins — Pretty cold tonight. Strong east wind. A storm brewing, I guess. Mrs. Stebbins — Did you find the sheep man? Mr. Stebbins — Yes, he'll be here Friday to get the wool. I sold the butter, too. Was just in time. Eben Sloan starts for Boston tomorrow morning, with a load of pork and was glad to get it. That's a hard trip to Boston — must be in the neighborhood of a hundred miles. It will take the better part of five days to make it. Eben is anxious to get off so he can get back while he can cross the rivers on the ice. Mrs. Stebbins — Any of our folks in town today? Mr. Stebbins — No, but Thomas Hunt is back and was at the tavern. You should hear the story he's telling. He claims to have been two hundred miles west of Ohio to what he calls the Illinois Country. You'd think, to hear him talk, that he'd been in paradise. He's getting the young folks all stirred up. Elijah and Eli Smith were there drinking in every word he said. 179 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Mrs. Stebbins — But there is nobody really thinking of going way out there, is there? Mr. Stebbins — Yes, you remember a while back some of the younger men formed the "Illinois Colonial Associa- tion" or the "Hampshire Colony". Some call it one thing, some another. But anyhow, they are trying to get a colony together to go out west this spring. Mrs. Stebbins — This spring! Why they can't do that. It's nearly the middle of February now ! Mr. Stebbins— Well, that's the talk anyhow. (Slight pause while he goes to his overcoat and takes a newspaper from his pocket.) I got "The Hampshire Gazette" on my way home. We'll see if there's anything in it about this colony talk. (Opens the paper, looks it over.) Yes, there is. See here. (Reads.) "HAMPSHIRE COLONIAL ASSOCIATION" "A meeting of the above association will be holden at Warner's Coffee House, Northampton, on Wednesday the 16th inst. at 7 o'clock in the evening. Persons interested and those desirous of uniting with them are invited to attend the meeting. Mr. Thomas M. Hunt, who has just returned from a trip of exploration to the new State of Illinois, will be present to address the meeting. Per Order of Committee, D. B. Jones, Sec'y." "The printers of the Old County of Hampshire are re- quested to copy." — "Old Hampshire County" — that means all the western end of Massachusetts — pretty well up to Vermont. Well- that begins to look as though they meant business. Wed- nesday, the sixteenth. That's next Wednesday, isn't it? Mrs. Stebbins — But, I don't see why they want to go so far away and into the wilds. They'll have to begin life all over again. Mr. Stebbins — Oh ! they're looking for something easy. Think the winters are too long and cold here — say the soil doesn't yield enough to pay for tilling it. Young folks are 180 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS never satisfied. I don't know what's going to become of them — always wanting something just out of reach. What this old world's coming to is more than I can guess. (Pauses and reads a moment or two.) I'm tired — guess I'll go to bed. (Rises, winds the clock, lights a candle and goes out. Mrs. Stebbins picks up the paper, reads a little while, then rises, grinds the coffee, puts out the cat and goes out.) —CURTAIN- EPISODE II THE MEETING IN WARNER'S COFFEE HOUSE 1831 CHARACTERS 1931 George Brown, a clerk in the tavern, Albert Pannabaker Deacon Phelps, President of Hampshire Colony Association, Butler Denham, a traveler, Nathaniel Chamberlin, a doctor, D. B. Jones, Colony Clerk, S. D. Hinsdale Seth C. Clapp Israel Blodgett Thomas M. Hunt Daniel Brown - Samuel Brown - Elijah Smith Eli Smith Ezra Stebbins John Leonard - Robert G. Kelsey Richard Campbell Laurence Deets Ned Sapp Herbert Littlefield E. C. Prior J. R. Jardine Melvin Griswold Aldean Duffield Wright Hedenschoug Robert Booth Myron Hoover E. B. Cushing Chester Williams TIME: The evening of February 16, 1831. SCENE: Warner's Coffee House, Northampton, Massachusetts. The clerk is at the desk; Hinsdale and Clapp are playing checkers at a side table. Enter, talking, Deacon Phelps, Thomas Hunt and Dr. Chamberlin. Enter by twos and threes the other characters. The deacon takes the chair and calls the meeting to order. 181 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Deacon — You are aware of the purpose of this meet- ing. It is sometime since the Hampshire Colony was or- ganized here in Northampton from men gathered for the purpose from Amherst, Springfield, Belchertown, Hadley, and even from Putney and other points of Vermont. At our last formal meeting, you will remember, the colony agreed to help pay the exploring expenses of our fellow townsman, Thomas M. Hunt, a druggist of this com- munity, desiring to find a new location in the much talked of west. Mr. Hunt has recently returned and is here to- night. He will tell us what his explorations revealed and reply to any question we may desire to ask. Mr. Hunt. Hunt — Well, there's so much to tell that I hardly know where to begin. Thanks to our good friend, 0. W. Chamber- lain of 'The Hampshire Gazette", many of us had our atten- tion called to the interesting volumes of Lewis and Clark. I profited greatly on my journey by my perusal of their illuminating observations of the new country and the trails in the far west. I went by way of the Erie Canal and Great Lakes to Detroit in Michigan, and thence to Fort Dearborn, on the lake in the northern part of the new State of Illinois. Here I found land so low, swampy and beachy, that I wouldn't take it, for farming, as a precious gift. I then crossed probably a hundred and fifty miles of wonderful prairie land, for the most part admirably suited to cultivation, to Peoria which is situated on a little lake of the same name, really an arm of the Illinois River. There, I found that a two- horse stage ran infrequently between St. Louis and Galena by way of Springfield, so I decided to go on to St. Louis. The land is wonderful. I did not see an acre of waste land on the way south of Peoria. But on the whole, the country between Fort Dearborn, both east and west of the Fort Dearborn trail to Peoria, appealed to me most. Broad sweeping prairies, no hills, no gullies; you can see for miles in all directions. It is all government land and you can 182 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS take up all you want at a dollar and a quarter an acre. The soil is a deep, black loam, rich and easily tilled. It needs no fertilizing and there are no stones or stumps to hinder cul- tivation. Stebbins — Humph! You can't believe all you hear, men! Daniel Brown — Did you say there are no stones in that land? Hunt — Absolutely, none on the prairies. Why, you can run a clean furrow miles long and strike neither stones, trees nor stumps. Stebbins — I'd have to see that. And say, I hear there are Indians running loose out there, too! Samuel Brown — If there are no stones what do they build their fences of? Elijah Smith — If there's no timber, how can houses be built and what about fuel? Hunt — I said there were neither stones nor trees on the prairies, but the creeks and rivers are wooded so you need have no fear about building, fuel or fence material. Yes, Stebbins, there are Indians out there on the plains. It's their native land, you know, and they have done some pretty awful things to the whites. But one has to take a chance on his own scalp, look sharp, and hope for the best. Clapp — What's the best way to get there, Mr. Hunt? Hunt — Either by the way I went, or from Boston by boat to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis and across country by wagon. This way is easiest and may take less time, but it costs more. It took me be- tween five and six weeks the other way. I'll show you a trail map later. Jones — Sullivan Conant, Mr. Bicknell, Rufus Brown, Israel Blodgett and I have already fully decided, Providence willing, to go out to northern Illinois in the fall, and I, hav- ing no family dependent upon me, agree to build, by spring, 183 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH a double cabin to shelter you colony folks when you get there. (Applause.) Deacon — What about churches and schools? We can't rear our families without them. Hunt — Churches and schools ? Why man alive, Illinois is a great stretch of raw, unbroken, unf enced prairie, miles upon miles in extent. Some roving Indians and a few scattered white settlers, but no modern advantages. You'll have to take your schools and churches with you, I guess. Deacon — That's a worthy idea. We will follow it up and to that end I now invite all of you who are interested in the matter to come to my house on Wednesday evening next, to discuss the formation of a Hampshire Colony Church, which, under God's guidance, we may take with us to our new prairie homes. We will now adjourn for further informal talk with Mr. Hunt. —CURTAIN— 184 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS EPISODE III VOLUNTEERS FOR THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH. 1831 CHARACTERS 1931 Rev. Ichabod Spencer, the pastor of the First or Jonathan Edwards Church, - - Rev. H. Wm. Stiles George Rockwell, the precentor, - C. R. F. Billeaux VOLUNTEERS Ebenezer Strong Phelps Anne Wright Phelps Amos C. Morse - Lucinda Morse - Elisha Wood - Abigail Wood - Samuel Brown - Daniel Brown ... Levi Jones - Louisa Jones - Alvah Whitmarsh ... Naomi Whitmarsh ... Elijah Smith .... John Leonard ... Sylvia Childs - Clarissa Childs ... Maria Lyman - Nathaniel Chamberlin Robert G. Kelsey Isadore Hawdon Guy Campbell Maude Campbell Fred Warnecke Marie Warnecke Wright Hedenschoug Aldean Duffield Joe Anderson Dorothy Anderson Charles J. Greener Herma Naomi Clark Robert Booth Chester C. Williams Gerda Bouxsein Myrtle Pierson Eva M. Greener Laurence Deets TIME: The evening of March 9, 1831. SCENE: The First or Jonathan Edwards Church, Northamp- ton, Massachusetts. Audience seated. Rev. Spencer enters the pul- pit; the precentor takes his accustomed place. Rev. Spencer — Let us begin this meeting worshipfully with a hymn. (The precentor "lines" the hymn "How Firm A Foundation." Following the singing, Scripture (Genesis 12:1-5) and a prayer by the pastor.) Rev. Spencer — My friends, we have assembled today for a very serious matter. As you all know, a company of young people are thinking of moving to the far west to es- 185 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH tablish new homes and settle a new land. We know little about this distant country except that there is very much land to be possessed. The character of a country is fixed by its beginnings, so it is desired that the great valley of the Mississippi be settled by men and women whose main object is not to make money, nor to escape from the re- straints of society, but who desire above all else, to estab- lish God-fearing homes, where children may grow up and carry on the good work begun by our Pilgrim fathers. That there may be, at once, a center about which all that is truest and best can rally, it has been decided to organize a church here, which shall be transplanted to Illinois soil. We know bitter hardships are most certainly connected with pioneer efforts. This new country is without road or house to guide the traveler. Hostile Indians lurk in unsus- pected places. Until a crop can be raised the food supply will have to depend upon the fish of the streams and the game of the prairies. Homesickness will come, like an overwhelming flood and it is doubtful if the homes you now leave will ever be seen again by you. The journey is one long hardship. Some of you have endured the discom- forts of the boats on the Erie Canal. The inadequate ac- commodations of the steam boats from Buffalo west, are little better and passengers must share space with ani- mals and freight. From Fort Dearborn the journey con- tinues by wagon over a roadless country in which are seem- ingly bottomless sloughs and heart breaking mud. There will be no friendly welcome awaiting at the end of the journey. It is a hard, a bitter prospect indeed. Consider well the step you are taking and let no one without a deep conviction that this call is of God dare attempt it. There is no need to say more. You have been thinking and pray- ing — you have decided what you will do. Today, we are assembled to give you an opportunity to publicly express that decision. I ask any now in this audience who have chosen to accept this as God's call and who willingly offer 186 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS themselves for candidates for membership in the proposed Hampshire Colony Congregational Church to now rise. (Succeeding a solemn pause, the volunteers singly and in couples, slowly rise.) Rev. Spencer — "The Lord bless thee and keep thee, The Lord make His face to shine upon thee The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon thee, And give thee peace." (Candidates resume seats.) Rev. Spencer — On the second Lord's Day, March 23, 1831, at 8 o'clock in the evening, this congregation is invited to reconvene in this meeting house to hear the re- port of a church council made up of pastors and delegates from Belchertown, Conway, and Northampton, Massa- chusetts, and of Putney, Vermont, which will hold an exe- cutive session immediately preceding the evening meeting at the house of Deacon Ebenezer Strong Phelps of this city to examine these volunteer church colony candidates and pass upon their letters, preliminary to the formal or- ganization at that time of the Hampshire Colony Congre- gational Church and their fitness for membership there- in. (The pastor raises his hand in benediction, the con- gregation quietly rises, stands with heads deeply bowed, then files solemnly and silently from the church.) —CURTAIN— 187 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH EPISODE IV THE ORGANIZATION OF THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH. THE NORTHAMPTON CHURCH COUNCIL 1831 CHARACTERS 1931 Rev. Solomon Williams, pastor emeritus, - R. D. Harrison Rev. Ichabod Spencer, present pastor, Rev. H. Wm. Stiles Hon. Lewis Strong, delegate, - - Frank Hoffman Rev. Lyman Coleman, clerk of council, Belchertown, - Sylvester T. Brigham I. Towne, Esq., delegate, Belchertown Church, Eli Smith Rev. Benj. H. Pitman, Moderator, Putney, Vermont, - Rev. Frank S. Brewer The Hampshire Colony Volunteers. TIME : The evening of March 23, 1831. SCENE: The First or Jonathan Edwards Church, Northamp- ton, Massachusetts. The Communion table is spread. Audience files in at intervals followed by members of the council. The meeting opens with the hymn, "Come Thou Almighty King." Rev. Coleman reads Scripture (Joshua 1:6-9) and prays. TEXT: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." (Luke 12:32.) Rev. Pitman — As moderator I now present the Rever- end Ichabod Spencer who will conduct this service. Rev. Spencer — The council, called by the Northamp- ton Church at a conference just concluded at the home of Deacon Ebenezer Strong Phelps, has satisfied itself as to the fitness of the candidates and the authority of their let- ters and finds them eminently suited to the great under- taking before them. We will now proceed to organize them into the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church. As your names are called, you will please come forward. Ebenezer Strong Phelps and Anne Wright, his wife, of Northampton, Massachusetts. Elisha Wood and Abigail, his wife, from Belchertown, Massachusetts. 188 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Amos C. Morse and Lucinda, his wife, from Belcher- town, Massachusetts. John Leonard from Warwick, Massachusetts. Alvah Whitmarsh and Naomi, his wife, from the First Church of Springfield, Massachusetts. Levi Jones and Louise, his wife, from South Church, Amherst, Massachusetts. Nathaniel Chamberlin of Putney, Vermont. Maria Lyman from the First Church of South Hadley, Massachusetts. Samuel and Daniel Brown of Belchertown, Massachu- setts. Clarissa Childs, Sylvia Childs and Elijah Smith from Conway, Massachusetts. (After they have come forward.) My beloved, you have accepted the Confession of Faith of our church as your own; you will now enter into the Covenant. "We, now, in the presence of God and His people most solemnly surrender ourselves, bodies and spirits, to God as a living sacrifice and we do renounce the world, the flesh and the devil, fully purposing, in the strength of the grace of God, to abstain from every evil way and to live a life of new obedience ,making the Word of God our only rule and practice. We promise that we will constantly endeavor to promote the peace, the harmony and prosperity of the Church of Jesus Christ, walking with the members in Christian faithfulness and love, submitting ourselves to every divine or- dinance for the Lord's sake, punctual and prayerful in our attendance on all the worship of God's house, that we will not neglect the seals of God's covenant, Baptism and the Lord's Supper, that we will strictly observe the Sabbath as Holy unto the Lord, that we will lend our influence to the cause of temperance and sobriety, observe secret devotion and, as far as God may give us opportunity, family worship, and in all things earnest in endeavor to perfect holiness in the fear of God, relying on the grace and spirit of Jesus Christ as we shall answer to Him at the last day. Amen." Do you thus covenant with God and this Church? (Candidates bow.) 189 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH You are going out from the home of your fathers and the graves of your kindred. But God will go with you. Sometimes from the distant land you will look back to the scenes of your early lives and we can give your assurance that you will be remembered and loved when you are gone. Around these altars and from this Communion table, we pledge ourselves to send up our prayer to God in heaven for you. Seal your love to Christ and love to one another, over these august emblems of your Saviour's crucifixion and strengthen the cords of love that shall bind your hearts to the brethren you have left, when mountains rise and rivers roll between. Here, as a Church of Christ, you take your first communion. Soon you will find graves in a dis- tant land, but "fear not, little flock ; for it is your Father's pleasure to give you the Kingdom." God grant it to you. Amen. (Candidates resume seats. There follows the sermon by Rev. Ichabod Spencer.) My beloved brethren, if you would secure the pros- perity of your infant church, you must be always atten- tive to your personal religion. If you are wrong there, you will be wrong everywhere. Your public acts and public influence, your prayers will all partake of evil, your piety will decline. The piety of any church is made up of the piety of its members, and if you would not injure the piety of others and diminish its influence, too, you must your- self possess a strong devoted, decided piety of the heart. Let these things that I have named be in you and abound, and your Father will give you the Kingdom. Be such a church as I have sketched and it must be, it will be that you will enjoy frequent revivals of religion and your little flock will be increased in numbers, in devotion, in piety, and in joys of the Holy Ghost. (There follows the hymn, "My Faith Looks Up To Thee.") 190 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Rev. Brewer — I have this communication from niegh- boring congregations: "To the Hampshire Colony Church: "Greetings from the Sister Churches of this Vicinity. "We wish to assure you that we are all greatly inter- ested in your purpose to carry the Gospel of Christ to your new home in the far west. It is a great undertaking. Many colonies have gone west. We know of no others who have carried their church organization with them. A difficult journey confronts you. Unknown hardships and dangers await you in your distant home. Sometimes you will long for a glimpse of your old homes and the old familiar faces. But remember, the same kind Father keeps watch over His children wherever their steps may lead them. Lean upon His arm in the hours of sunshine and shadow alike. That arm never fails. " 'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.' " And now let us all look in prayer to Him that never faileth. Almighty and Ever-lasting God, we humbly bow be- fore Thee and invoke Thy blessing upon us as we gather here for this solemn service. Bless, we pray Thee, in an especial manner this group of men and women, who, under the guidance of Thy Spirit, this day have banded them- selves together as a church of Christ. May this bond of Christian fellowship be as enduring as life itself. And as they are soon to start on their journey to a distant land, we beseech Thee, to protect them by Thy kind Providence from the dangers that may beset them along the way. As Thou didst lead Thy people of old through the wilderness to the promised land, even so, we beseech Thee, lead these, Thy people, in safety to their new home. And in Thine own good time, when we all shall have come to the end of the journey of life, grant that we shall again be united in our eternal home. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, we ask it. Amen. (Slowly and silently the audience files out.) —CURTAIN— 191 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH EPISODE V THE DOUBLE WEDDING AT CONWAY "TWO BROTHERS WED TWO SISTERS" "Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Bogue, of Conway, Massachusetts, announce the approaching marriage of their daughters, Syl- via Childs to Mr. Elijah Smith of Northmapton, and Clarissa Childs to Mr. Eli Smith of the same place, to be solemnized at the family home at eight o'clock on the evening of March the thirty-first, eighteen hundred thirty-one. "These young people are members of the recently organ- ized Hampshire Colony with which, Providence permitting, they will depart early in June, to establish homes on the fer- tile prairies of Illinois. "The prayers and kindly wishes of this entire section of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will accompany them into the remote west." — Hampshire County Gazette. 1831 Mr. Elisha Bogue Mrs. Elisha Bogue CHARACTERS Mrs. Ann Smith - (Mother, Elijah and Eli Smith) Grandma Childs Elijah Smith, groom, Sylvia Childs, bride, Eli Smith, groom, Clarissa Childs, bride, Nancy Stearns, bridesmaid, Phoebe Snow, bridesmaid, Israel Winslow, groomsman, James Talbot, groomsman, Betsey Blodgett, serving maid, Mary Dalton, serving maid, Isaac Towne, soloist, Nancy Doolittle, cousin Mary Pitman, cousin, Eugene Strong, uncle, 1931 Frank Hoffman Jennie Fay Hoffman (Granddaughter, Elijah Smith) Clara Allen Harris Orpha Ellis Robert Booth Gerda Bouxsein Myron Hoover Myrtle Pierson - Helen Booth Eunice Morse Richard Campbell Ralph Crownover Marjorie Simon Alice Anderson Orville Brokaw Alice Hock Dorothy Piper T. A. Fenoglio 192 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS GUESTS Mr. and Mrs. Fred Warnecke, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Bouxsein, Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Kasbeer, Mr. and Mrs. For- rest Peterson, Mr. and Mrs. Norman Weeks, Wright Hedenschoug, Aldean Duffield, Isadore Hawdon, Ruth Park- er, Julia Phelps Sisler, Chester C. Williams, Dorothy Piper, Mervin Johnson, Pauline Stauffer, Violetta Wilson, Myron Hoover, Alice Anderson, Marjory Simons, Albert Pannebaker, Richard Campbell, Gretchen Baisch, Ned Sapp, T. A. Fenog- lio, Emil Swanson, Orville Brokaw, Laurence Deets, Evelyn Ross, Grace Farwell, Evelyn Graham, Geneva Nelson, Cora Perkins, Minnie Warnecke. TIME: The evening of March 31, 1831. SCENE: Roomy parlor in home of Elisha Bogue, Conway, Massachusetts. Enter Bridal Party, preceded by Reverend Ichabod Spencer. The marriage ceremony is solemnized. Congratulations, felicitations, etc. Nancy Doolittle — It must indeed be hard for you, Mrs. Bogue, to have your daughters go so far away, and es- pecially into such a wild and unsettled state as Illinois. Mrs. Bogue — Yes, it is hard and at first I could not reconcile myself to it, but a woman's first duty is to her husband, and both my daughters have chosen good men, who will, I am sure, cherish and protect them. Mary Pitman — I'd have to be desperately in love with a man to risk my scalp in that wild land. Mrs. Smith — Well, my child, unless you love a man enough to go with him to the ends of the earth — yes, and jump off, if need be — you'd better never marry at all. Eugene Strong — There's a test, young lady, which will call for some loyalty to measure up to. Mary Pitman — Or a full sized man, maybe? Mrs. Smith — You young folks must stop chattering and listen to the music. (Isaac Towne sings "Believe Me, If All Those En- 193 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH dearing Young Charms." Enter Betsey Browne and Mary Dalton with wedding cakes which they place, with knives, on side table. Brides come forward; each takes a knife and cuts first slice of cake.) —CURTAIN- EPISODE VI PIONEERING IN ILLINOIS 1831 CHARACTERS 1931 Elijah Smith - Robert Booth Mrs. Elijah Smith - Gerda Bouxsein Eli Smith - ... - Myron Hoover Mrs. Eli Smith .... Myrtle Pierson Dr. Chamberlin - - Lawrence Deets Deacon Phelps .... Robert G. Kelsey TIME: Ten A. M., October 20, 1831. SCENE: The log cabin of Eli and Elijah Smith, three miles north of Princeton, Illinois. Elijah Smith is working on the cabin. Enter Deacon Phelps and Dr. Chamberlin. Elijah Smith — Good morning, brethren. Fine autumn day, isn't is? Dr. Chamberlin — Busy, I see. Elijah Smith — Yes, winter will soon be here and we must have shelter. Dr. Chamberlin — (looking about) Well, you folks are going to have a fine home here. You and Eli are wise to build a double cabin. It is much safer these times and costs less, too. Deacon Phelps — And you've a choice location, too, Elijah. It seems more like home, somehow, to see the timber so near. 194 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Elijah Smith — We think so. Only wish you were nearer. There are only six of the Hampshire Colony Church left here, now that Brother Amos is gone. Deacon Phelps — Yes, I miss him very much, indeed. You remember his family came out from Massachusetts with mine. Dr. Chamberlin — It was partly on account of Brother Morse's death that we rode out this morning, Elijah. He was church clerk, you know, and we must choose someone in his place. You, Deacon Phelps, will preside at the ses- sion, will you not? Deacon Phelps — As senior deacon I suppose it is fit- ting. (Pause) As you both know, Amos S. Morse was duly elected church clerk when the Hampshire Colony Congre- gational Church was organized in Northampton, Massa- chusetts, last March. Whom will you suggest to act in his stead? Elijah Smith — I nominate Brother Chamberlin. Deacon Phelps — I am quite content and, as the women members of the church are not permitted to vote, your wish and mine must, I think, prevail. Let us ask God's blessing upon our choice. But first Brother Smith, better call your wife, her sister Clarissa, and your brother Eli. They, I think, will desire to join us in a season of prayer. (Elijah Smith steps to the cabin door and calls them. Enter Mrs. Elijah Smith and Mrs. Eli Smith from cabin; Eli Smith follows from the rear with his gun on his shoulder. All wish the callers "Good Morning" and step to one side.) Deacon Phelps — Brother Smith, will you lead us? Elijah Smith — Our Father, Thou who hast for Thine own good purpose called unto Thyself, thy servant Amos Morse, be pleased to bless, in word and deed, our brother upon whom Thy mantle of service has this day fallen, and "unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that work- 195 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH eth in us", unto Him be glory in the Church of Jesus Christ throughout all ages. Amen. Deacon Phelps — Brethren, as you are aware, I am by trade a clockmaker and a silversmith, and as there is no opening for my labors in this new section of the state, it seems inevitable that for a time I continue in Springfield. I therefore ask letters for myself and wife to the Presby- terian church of that place. Dr. Chamberlin — We deeply regret, that you, Deacon Phelps, our senior counselor, must again leave us, thus de- pleting our little flock to only four. God's will be done. May His blessing attend you. With Brother Smith's sanc- tion, I, as clerk of the Hampshire Colony Church, will sup- ply your letters. Will you, Brother Phelps, before you go from our midst, lead us in a word of prayer? Deacon Phelps — Lord, let Thy work appear unto Thy servants and Thy glory unto their children and estab- lish Thou the work of our hands upon us, yea the work of our hands, establish Thou it. Amen. —CURTAIN— 196 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS EPISODE VII FIRST GOLDEN WEDDING CELEBRATED IN PRINCETON, ILLINOIS. EBENEZER STRONG PHELPS and ANNE WRIGHT PHELPS Northampton, Massachusetts, February 24, 1812 Princeton, Illinois, February 24, 1862 RECORD. "The fiftieth wedding anniversary of Deacon Ebenezer Strong Phelps and Mrs. Anne Wright Phelps was cele- brated at the house of their son-in-law, Lewis J. Colton, Es- quire, of Princeton, Illinois, on Monday, February, February 24, 1862. "Five of their six children — three sons and two daught- ers — , two sons-in-law, two daughters-in-law, nine grand- children and a large company of invited guests assembled, during the afternoon and evening to do them honor. The family and intimate friends being convened in the large par- lor, the aged couple, attended by Charles Phelps, Esquire, (a brother) as groomsman and Mrs. Charles Phelps as bridesmaid, came in, took their stand and joined hands. After prayer by Rev. H. C. Hammond, the clergyman of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church, the follow- ing program was carried out." [Note — The subject matter in this entire episode is made up of extracts from the original addresses given on the above occasion; its personnel, real people who emigrated to Illinois from 1830 through the Fifties and were active and vital factors in the church and community life of this section of Bureau County.] 1862 CHARACTERS 1931 Deacon E. S. Phelps - - - Rev. E. B. Cushing Anne Wright Phelps (Mrs. E. S.) - Clara Allen Harris Charles Phelps (brother of E. S. P.) - A. C. Best Mary Strong Phelps (Mrs. C.) - Minnie Agnes Phelps (Granddaughter, C. P.) Lewis J. Colton (son-in-law) - Hugh H. Ferris Mrs. L. J. Colton (daughter) - - Maude C. Ferris Mrs. J. G. Bubach (daughter) - Grace Phelps Sisler (Grandniece of E. S. P.) 197 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH E. Hinsdale Phelps (son) Mrs. E. Hinsdale Phelps Ebenezer Strong Phelps, Jr. Mrs. E. S. Phelps, Jr. James R. Phelps (son) Mrs. James R. Phelps Mrs. Harriet Phelps Carpenter (Neice of E. S. P.) (Great-great granddaughter E. S. P.) George R. Phelps (nephew of E. S. P.) Albert Pannebaker Lois Phelps, (granddaughter of E. S. P.) - Rachel Staples Alice Colton (Judd) (daughter of L. J. C.) - Jean Hewitt Alex Smythe Sara Smythe Robert G. Kelsey Isadore Hawdon J. Forrest Peterson Violet Peterson Alice Grant GUESTS Flora Colton Carpenter (Daughter of L. J. C.) David Phelps (Grandson of E. S. P.) Willis Colton (Grandson of E. S. P.) Deacon Caleb C. Cook Mr. John H. Bryant Mrs. John H. Bryant Mr. Curtis J. Lyons Chauncey D. Colton (Brother of L. J. C.) Mrs. Chauncey D. Colton Mr. Elijah Smith Mrs. Elijah Smith (Granddniece of E. Mr. Eli Smith (Brother of Elijah Sr.) Mrs. Eli Smith Deacon Lazarus Reeve Miss Lillian Ruttan Charles Phelps Burr James Edwards Skerry Mr. Chester C. Williams (Great grandson of C. C. C.) William Cullen Bryant (Great grandson of J. H. B.) Miss Grace Bryant (Grandniece of J. H. B.) Aldean Duffield Chas. H. Gibbs Mrs. Ada Colton Norton (Daughter of C. D. C.) Mr. Wm. N. Shugart Mrs. Grace Smith Elder S. and granddaughter of Eli) Mr. Eli Smith, Jr. (Son of Eli Sr.) Mrs. Eli Smith, Jr. Mr. Reeve Norton (Grandson of L. R.) ADDITIONAL GUESTS Hon. Owen Lovejoy, M. C. - Mr. Elijah Parish Lovejoy (Son of 0. L.) Mrs. Owen Lovejoy - Mrs. Sophia Lovejoy Dickenson (Daughter of 0. L.) 198 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Mr. James Smith Mrs. James Smith Mrs. Phylinda Robinson Mr. Stephen Paddock Mrs. Stephen Paddock Miss Mary Denham Dr. Wm. Anthony Mrs. Wm. Anthony Mr. Edwin G. Smith T. L. Wilson Miss Lucy Smith (Niece of J. S.) Mrs. W. C. Ross CD. Tedrow Mrs. Margaret Paddock McKee (Daughter of S. P.) Mrs. T. L. Wilson C. R. F. Billeaux Mrs. C. R. F. Billeaux Mr. David S. Hamm Mr. Alby Smith (and family), Mr. Dee Norton (and family) (Great grandson of A. S.) Miss Elizabeth Colton (Daughter of C. D. C.) Mr. John Walters Mr. Cyrus Bryant Mrs. Cyrus Bryant Mrs. Cyrus Colton Mr. Joseph H. Brigham - Mrs. Joseph H. Brigham Mr. and Mrs. H. Solomon Burr Mrs. Rachel Downing Mrs. Samuel Fay Willis Colton - (Son of L. J. C.) Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Smith Mrs. Roland Moseley Mr. Otis Dunbar Mrs. Otis Dunbar Mrs. Mildred Norton Andrews (Granddaughter of C. D.C.) Mr. Emil Swanson Mr. Arthur Bryant (Grand-nephew of C. B.) Miss Agnes Robinson (Granddaughter of C. B.) Mrs. Hattie Colton Green (Granddaughter of C. C.) - Mr. Sylvester T. Brigham (Son of J. H. B.) Miss Olive Pierce Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Burr (Grandson of H. S. B.) Robert Hinman Burr (Great-great grandson of H. S. B.) Miss Mabel Downing (Granddaughter of R. D.) Miss Mary Fay (Granddaughter of S. F.) James Edward Skerry (Great-great grandson of S. L. F.) Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Ferris (Grandson of S. S.) Miss Fannie Moseley (Granddaughter of R. M.) Mr. Fred Henderson Dunbar (Grandson of 0. D.) Miss Camilla B. Ferris (Granddaughter of 0. D.) 199 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Deacon Harvey B. Leeper Mrs. Harvey B. Leeper Mrs. N. A. Keyes Mrs. Elizabeth Wiswall Mr. and Mrs. Seth Clapp Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Carey Mrs. Amanda Stowell Mr. and Mrs. Sam Dunbar - Mr. and Mrs. John Crittenden Miss Ann Pruden Dr. A. E. Owens Miss Carrie Dunbar Miss Etta Shepherd Mrs. Elizabeth M. Cowley Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Jardine Mr. and Mrs. George Gray Mrs. Gertrude Skinner Mr. and Mrs. James Fletcher - Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Pratt Mrs. Wm. H. Shugart Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Chamberlain, Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Stewart Mrs. Jane Cook Trimble - - Miss Freada Nelson Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morris, Mr. and Mrs. Chas. J. Morris Mr. and Mrs. Egbert Norton, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Field Mr. and Mrs. James Everett, Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Shugart Mr. and Mrs. Micaijah Triplett, Mr. and Mrs. Glen Foster Mrs. Caroline Smith Mrs. Emily Wiswall Triplett Dr. and Mrs. William Converse, Mrs. Electa Smith Miss Pluma Chamberlain Mr. and Mrs. Wm. P. Griffin Mrs. Deborah Brown Mr. and Mrs. George Brown Miss Harriet Wiswall Mrs. Abbie Converse Mrs. Hannah Charlton Mrs. R. L. Newell Mr. and Mrs. John P. Blake Mrs. Mehitabel Corse Mrs. Aurelia Langworthy Mrs. Justus Stevens Mrs. Joel Doolittle Mrs. Clara Frances Smith Miss Edna B. Anderson Mr. and Mrs. M. Griswold Miss Evelyn E. Graham Mrs. A. E. Owens Mr. and Mrs. D. J. Johnson Mrs. E. M. Stanard Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Evans Mrs. Beva Hedenschoug Miss Mary Uthoff Mrs. Jessie Baisch Miss Grace Farwell Mr. and Mrs. L. Huffaker Mrs. Charles H. Gibbs Mrs. F. E. Coulter Mrs. Newcomb Stevens Miss Ozella Seward TIME : Early candlelight, February 24, 1862. SCENE: The roomy parlor in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis J. Colton on the Peru Road, two and one-half miles east of Prince- ton, Illinois. Pastor, family and intimate friends to the number of fifty as- sembled. Enter Deacon and Mrs. Ebenezer Strong Phelps attended by their brother and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Phelps. Rev. H. S. Hammond, pastor of the Hampshire Colony Church advances, greets the wedding party and speaks as follows: 200 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS ADDRESS BY REV. H. S. HAMMOND, Pastor, Hampshire Colony Congregational Church. Venerable and beloved friends : This is emphatically the occasion when "days should speak and multitudes of years teach wisdom." The great charm and benefit of this day is, that we may hear the counsels of age and experience. It can seem little less than presumption for one to come forward to address you who was not born until three years after you had, in the ma- turity of adult years, stood up together and entered into the holiest of human relations. Yet age is proverbially in- dulgent to the young. Suffer me then, before we listen to the voices from the past, to extend to you the congratu- lations of the assembled guests on the return of this joy- ful anniversary. And first, you are to be congratulated on your long and peaceful lives. Existence is itself a blessing, and we all instinctively desire length of days. Yet few are per- mitted to see three score years and ten. But both of you have reached and passed that limit. We must look upon you as representatives of a past century. Some of the mightest convulsions that ever shook our world occurred within your recollection, but a kind Provi- dence has appointed for you a quiet, retired and peaceful life. You have been permitted in a comparatively pri- vate sphere to cultivate the Christian graces, discharge your civil and social duties and prepare for another world. We congratulate you also that you have lived in an eventful period of the world. You have been the spectators of wonderful events. It is not only a blessing to live, but still more to live at a good time in the world. And had you chosen the period of your earthly probation, what other more interesting age could you have selected? Born, one of you with the Constitution of the United States, and the other not long after, your memory goes back to the administration of the great Washington, at 201 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH whose death you were old enough to be mourners, and fol- low down through all the succeeding administrations great and little, to the present day. You have seen the growth of these states from thirteen to thirty-four and have seen the increase of our population from three millions to thirty- two millions and have seen this people spread over and take possession of this vast territory. Your native state con- tained the cradle of liberty, and in your youth, yea at the time of your marriage, the great state where you have now long resided and where you expect to lay your bones, and whose soldiery is second to none in their efforts to put down by force of arms the present civil uprising against our nation and save the liberties our fathers gained, was known only as a distant, unsettled territory. The great progress in the arts and sciences since your recollections, the inventions and discoveries, the improved modes of living, of traveling, of communicating with friends time would utterly fail me to specify. I leave them for you to speak of in the informal discourse we expect in this social interview. But I must mention some of the triumphs of the Re- deemer's Kingdom you have witnessed. The vast system of Christian benevolence, with its many ramifications of foreign missions, home missions, Bible societies, tract societies, Sababth-school societies, homes for the friendless, homes for the seamen, and a score of other benevolent institutions have had their principal growth since your marriage. You have seen great and precious revivals of religion — great progress in the churches of Christ at home and abroad. That you have lived in such an age of progress and triumphs of right must be to you a matter of rejoicing. Could you see one more triumph, I mean the triumph of right and jus- tice over slavery in our land, we doubt not you would with old Simeon cheerfully say, "Lord, now lettest Thou Thy ser- vant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salva- 202 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS tion." We are not without hope that you will live to witness even that. We congratulate you on the abundance of your domestic happiness. For half a century you have enjoyed this most blessed of all human relations. And, because, we fancy, yours was not a hasty, inconsiderate marriage, but one founded on intimate knowledge of each other, derived from early association and long acquaintance, and what is now perhaps too lightly esteemed, a long bethrothal more than all, founded on a hearty mutual agreement in the great end of life. The solemn vows which you assumed fifty years ago to-day have been faithfully remembered. For much more than half a century you have been numbered among the Lord's people. Your names were on the church records before your marriage. For almost half a century one of you has been an office bearer in the Church of Christ. You erected your family altar when you first had a fire- side of your own. And through the blessing of a covenant keeping God, you have been permitted to see your children walking in your footsteps. Blessed of the Lord and highly favored must we be permitted to call you. We congratulate you also as we look to the future ; for, another fifty years will roll away. Time has not ceased his flight with the return of this anniversary — the pen- dulum is swinging even while the clock is striking the hour. And so another period of fifty years has already begun. That God may bless you even down to death and cause men to bless your memory when you are gone, is our fervent prayer. ADDRESS BY DEACON CALEB C. COOK In Behalf of the Church. Venerable Brother and Sister: The honor has been conferred upon me of extending to you, on this felicitous occasion, the congratulations of the church of which you are members. I could wish that this duty had fallen to the lot of 203 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH one more gifted, but according to my ability I will discharge it with sincere pleasure. It was my happiness to know you back in your early home and I can testify that then, among those who had known you from your youth up, you both were highly es- teemed and honored. I can scarcely find fitting terms to express your relations and services to this church. With you originated the idea of forming the Hampshire Colony Church in old Massachusetts, to be transplanted thence to this western prairie. You were chosen one of its first deacons, and although on your first removal west, Provi- dence prevented your locating with us, during the few years of your absence your prayers followed us. When you re- turned you brought us an accession of wisdom, of business talents, of influence, of piety and of strength. Your watch- fulness over the interests of this church has been constant and untiring; your labors as an officer, a brother, a super- intendent of the Sabbath-school have been abundant; your contributions an example of liberality, your prayers un- ceasing. Through Divine grace you have also discharged faith- fully your duties as a citizen of this community and so "have had a good report of them that are without", which, coupled with the Christian reputation of your long associate deacon, the late Dr. Nathaniel Chamberlin, has greatly honored the church and the religion of Christ. We congratulate you also that for fifty years you have been blessed with a companion who has been a partaker of the same precious faith, has shared your joys and sor- rows in prosperity and in adversity, and whose adorning has been such as the apostle describes as "of a meek and quiet spirit which is, in the sight of God, of great price." ADDRESS BY E. S. PHELPS, JR., In Behalf of The Children. Dear Parents: In behalf of the children I would say: We have often 204 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS felt thankful that you have reared and trained us up in the fear of God. You taught us to live — not alone for selfish purposes, but that the great object in life is to make the world bet- ter for our having lived in it. The times demand of us much more than they did of you. Christ is overturning the world and the church; and the true spirit of progression is about to lift up its standard. "The gloomy night is breaking, E'en now the sunbeams rest With a faint but cheerful radiance On the hilltops of the west." We feel that, as your children, we can truly "rise up and call you blessed". You have blessed the world by living in it. Shall we do less? We feel a desire to go forward in every good word and work, that we may be prepared, at the end, to hear, "W T ell done, good and faithful servants," and, as one unbroken family, meet in the spirit-world, bless- ing and being blessed, where parting will never come. ADDRESS BY CURTIS S. LYONS In Behalf of The Grandchildren. Our esteemed and beloved grandparents and friends: Happy greeting: We of the third generation wish to unite our voices with those of our parents and older friends in congratu- lating you at this time. We can form but little idea of what it is to have lived seventy or seventy-five years, but the Bible calls long life a blessing and we are glad you have been thus blessed. We are glad that you have lived to see us grow up around you, with our smiles and frolic; for, though we are full of mischief and confess to be often troublesome, we know you consider us as blessings. We are thankful this day has come; for we are apt to think that you were always old : that Deacon Phelps was always gray, and that Grandma always stooped just a little. 205 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH But today reminds us that once it was "Eben" and "Anne" — the old gentleman whispers that it was "Strong" and "Annie" — who delighted in each other's smiles, who rode to the music of the sleigh bells in the snowy valley of the Connecticut under the leafless, swaying branches of the old elm trees ; who walked together on summer evenings in the holy consecrated shade of those same trees; who, to speak less poetically, were "cutting around generally" in the days when Commodore Perry was thundering away in the battles of Lake Erie and General Jackson was giving "Hail Columbia" to the Britishers at New Orleans. It is suspected that Anne feared in those days that "Ebenezer" would have to be "set up" as a mark for the British to shoot at. Sundry funny things, too, may be remembered of those times, but we will be reverent and leave it for the old peo- ple to make fun of each other. But little folks should be seen, not heard; so our words must be few. As the years go on we trust you will yet enjoy them; that we, too, will grow older and wiser and better able to comfort and sustain you; and that we may all be preparing for that place where all shall be "golden", clear and bright, where shall be consummated the wedding of the spotless Lamb of God, to the holy bride, the Church. THE HISTORY OF EBENEZER STRONG PHELPS. I, Ebenezer Strong Phelps, was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, September 3, 1788, being the fourth child of Nathaniel and Lucy Phelps, of the fifth generation of Nathaniel Phelps that settled in Northampton in 1660. My wife, Anne Wright, daughter of Asahel and Rachel Wright, was born in Northampton, May 10, 1781, a descen- dant of one of the early settler of Northampton. I was named after my maternal grandfather, Captain Ebenezer Strong of Newhampton. My grandfather was a captain in the American Revolution, 206 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS I enjoyed the usual common school opportunities un- til June, 1803, when I was apprenticed to Mr. Isaac Gere of Northampton to learn the business of silver and goldsmith, also making- brass eight-day clocks. I was at that time in my fifteenth year. In the spring of 1806 a revival of religion commenced among the young people on the "plain". It spread soon in- to all parts of the town. The young girls with whom I as- sociated were among the first awakened. Soon numbers of them were hopefully converted and on the first Sabbath in June, as many as sixty persons, mostly youths, were ad- mitted to the church. One of that number, Anne Wright, then about fifteen years old. The revival continued and on the first Sabbath in August about thirty were admitted, one of whom was Ebenezer Strong Phelps, then nearly eighteen years of age. In January, 1809, Mr. Gere, with my parents' and my own consent, sent me to Newark, New Jersey, to work in the jewelry business for Messrs. Hinsdale and Taylor, I be- ing in my twenty-first year. I went to Newark at the close of a very interesting revival of religion under Dr. Griffin and in March of the same year was received by letter into the church. I have since considered it one of the greatest blessings of my life that I spent those three years in Newark. I think I obtained clearer views of the nature of religions of Christ during those years, than in all my life. In January, 1812, owing to the dullness of business on account of the prospect of war with Great Britain, I left Newark and returned to my father's in Northampton. The prospect of business being so poor in the States and a num- ber of my acquaintances having gone to Montreal, Canada, I made up my mind to go. But for about six years, I had been paying my attentions to Miss Anne Wright. We con- cluded before I left for Canada, we had better be married. We were married February 24, 1812. 207 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH Soon after our marriage, the prospect of war becoming stronger and Mr. Gere having offered to go into the jewelry business with me, I concluded to give up going to Canada and went to Boston to purchase tools and materials to com- mence business. In June war was declared against Great Britain. In September Mr. Gere died. It was thought best by us and our friends that James Crooks, who had been working as a journeyman with Mr. Gere and myself, buy the stock on hand, hire the store and carry on the business. We did so and the business continued under the firm of Crooks and Phelps. During our sojourn in Northampton six children were born to us. All but one, Charles Chester, are present with us to-night. Twenty-five of the thirty-three grandchildren God has given us are now living. During our continuance in Northampton, God blessed the church there with many interesting revivals in which we were permitted to labor. When I was twenty-eight years old, in 1816, I was chosen one of the deacons, which office I held until March 23, 1831, when the Hampshire Colony Church was formed and I was chosen one of its deacons. On May 4, 1831, my eldest sons, Hinsdale and Charles, started for Illinois, meeting Dr. Chamberlin in Albany. June 13, we, with the rest of our children and a few friends, left for Illinois. We arrived safely in Springfield, on the twen- ty-sixth day of July, 1831. I came up here from Springfield. A church meeting was called and met at a log cabin which Brother Elijah Smith and his brother Eli were building about three miles north of the present courthouse. Present at that meeting were the following male mem- bers: Deacon Nathaniel Chamberlin, Ebenezer Strong Phelps and Elijah Smith. After a season of prayer I re- quested letters for myself and wife to the Presbyterian church in Springfield, which were granted. 208 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS In May, 1835, we moved with our family to Princeton and were received on letter into the Hampshire Colony Con- gregational Church. Since then we have been connected with it, have shared its joys and sorrows, its blessings and its sins. Of its sins I feel to confess and lament my share. I think I have continually a comfortable hope that I am truly a child of God. I am, through grace, enabled to look forward to the grave and eternity without anxious fear and do expect through atonement and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, to be admitted to the Marriage Sup- per of the Lamb. Our experience is that God is a faithful God. And my testimony to our children is: "Blessed are all those who trust in Him." To our grandchildren we would say : "Seek the Lord in the morning of your days. Accept of Jesus Christ as your Saviour now; serve Him through life. In all trials He will be with you and when you are called to pass through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, His rod and His staff will support and comfort you. And so may we all meet in Heaven, a family saved through the grace and mercy of God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. So may it be. "Silver Threads Among the Gold", (Sung by Evelyn Ross and David Hamm) 209 THE HAMPSHIRE COLONY CHURCH POEM Addressed to Deacon E. S. Phelps and Anne Wright, his wife, on the Fiftieth Anniversary of Their Marriage. 'Twas fifty years ago today, These friends of ours, now old and gray, Before the marriage altar stood, In blooming man and woman-hood. Life's vista lay before you bright With joy and hope and living light; Your path all smooth to fancy's eye, No rugged steps, no stormy sky. Within the space of fifty years, How much of joy, how many fears, How much of sorrow now forgot, How much of love and peace your lot? Beneath your eye how vast has grown This blessed land we call our own ! What feasts has knowledge round us spread, Made common as our daily bread! What comforts has invention poured, What plenty crowns the scanty board! And peace seemed ours through coming time, Till war came on the path of crime. In all the ways your feet have trod, Your stay has been the living God; A fixed and earnest faith in Him, Which neither joy nor grief could dim. Blest in your basket and your store, Blest in the love of children more, In calm repose, life's labors done, Patient you wait its setting sun. — J. H. Bryant (Read at the Centennial of the Hampshire Colony Congregational Church, March 23, 1931, by William Cullem Bryant, Great Grand-son of John H. Bryant, the writer.) 210 ITS FIRST HUNDRED YEARS Mrs. Lewis J. Colton — (tenderly placing a light shawl over her mother's shoulders.) Truly this has been a won- derful, wonderful day. Deacon Phelps — Yes, a full and blessed day. How little we thought, dear wife, when we left our far off eastern home and kindred, that in our brief life-span, we should see so many home fires kindled on these broad prairies and gather to our hearts such a host of true and loyal friends as those we have had with us tonight. But the evening grows late ; let us, my children, repeat together the Twenty-third Psalm and seek God's blessing ere we go to rest. (All repeat Psalm and kneel in prayer.) Deacon Phelps — We thank Thee, our Father, for Thy rich and manifold blessings to us, Thy faulty children, for kindred, for homes and for friends. Forgive our many short comings; bless us in basket and in store and strengthen us in every good word and work to do Thy pleasure, for Thy name's sake. Amen. —CURTAIN— 211 Editors' Note. — Discrepancies in the spelling of proper names have appeared frequently in the records available. In all cases the spelling in the original manuscript has been preserved. It is re- gretted that some material, records and illustra- tions, has been submitted too late for logical arrangement. 1 Ifffl'l 2 025277796 m m asnaam B ■ Rtf 1