F
~::1895 ~~3 ~~~m'i~T~m~~~~~~0231 00079 7485
1enox.
TRINITY CHURCH,
LENOX.
! 888 HISTORY
OF TRINITY CHURCH,
CAl\fBRIDGE: J 0 H N WI L S 0 N AND S 0 N .
~mbcrsit)l tBrcss.
CONTENTS.
PAGE PREFATORY ToTE 7 HISTORY OF TRI:- APPENDIX. SKETCH OF THE REV. HENRY ALBERT YARDLEY 37 " " " THOMAS RuGGLES PYNCHON • 43 " " " WILLIAM HENRY BROOKS 46 " " " JUSTIN FIELD 49 BRIEF MEI'<"TION CO:' LIST OF CHURCH \VARDENS 53 LIST OF VESTRYMEN 53 PREFATORY NOTE. THE year 1763 has been taken as the starting- point of the history of our Parish ; not because it was the time of the organization, but as the earliest date of the holding of the Church service in the to\vn of Lenox. Taking that date for the beginning, we have now reached the good old age of one hundred and thirty-two years. These have been years full of many vicissitudes. At times the parish has had little more than an existence; for many periods of its life it has been dependent on temporary rectorships, and rector ships shared with Lanesborough and Stockbridge. At other times it has only been able to secure occasional services as opportunity offered. It is for this reason that there have been found gaps in the records which it has been impossible to fill ; but through every experieqce the con 8 tinuity of the life of the Parish has never been lost. Surely that fact gives us great hope, and makes us believe that she has been kept through all the years, to do her own peculiar and essen tial work in the life of Lenox. This history is entirely the work of the Rev. C. J. PALMER, Rector of St. Luke's Church, Lanes borough, Massachusetts. His long and careful study of the history of Berkshire County, and of the ancient and honorable Parish of which he is Rector, made him peculiarly fit to tell the story of this Parish, so .Jong and inti111ately related with the history of his own. He has received the valuable assistance of a number of people, but he desires to acknowledge the services of the Rev. JOSEPH HooPER, of the Diocese of Connecticut. W. M.G. THE RECTORY, August, 1895· •, ·. HISTORY OF TRINITY CHURCH, LENOX, MASS. WHEN the first service according to the Book of Common Prayer was held in Lenox, it is impos sible to state. In the early settlements of Berkshire County. there was far less dependence upon the pres ence of an ordained clergyman than is now the case. Much as the clergy were valued for the purpose of the due administration of the sacraments, the people were by no means wholly dependent on their presence for the holding of public services; and as there appear to have been about forty families in Lenox attached to the order of the Church of England not long after the settlement of the town, it is likely that many services were held. The first clergyman to officiate was, in all probability, the Rev. Roger Viets, of Simsbury, Connecticut, in October, 1763. About this time what is now called Berkshire County was opened up for permanent settle ment by the definite establishment of the frontier line 10 and the final expulsion of the Indians. Favorable terms being offered to settlers, considerable numbers from Connecticut ascended the Housatonic River, and settled the various grants in Western Massachusetts. Among these were many Church people; the friends of these naturally followed them with the warmest interest, and allowed their old pastors occasionally to visit them and administer the sacraments. The first of these clerical visitors was the Rev. Roger Viets. He appears to have followed his visit of 1763 by other visits. It is interest ing to note that he had a prominent share in the educat ing of his nephew Alexander Viets Griswold, afterwards Bishop of Massachusetts, and the first bishop to visit Berkshire County. The next visitor was the Rev. Samuel Andrews, of Wallingford, Connecticut, who made an important visita tion in October, I 767, visiting Vermont at that time, and being the first Church of England minister to visit that State. Mr. Andrews then returned to his Connecticut Parish, where he stayed till 1785, when, with many others of the clergy who had sympathized with Great Britain during the war, he found it desirable to remove, and went to Digby, Nova Scotia, where he remained for thirty-three years, dying at the ripe age of eighty-one. The next clerical visitor was the Rev. Richard Mans field, celebrated as well for his learning and ability as I I for the fact that he was the first clergyman of the Church to receive the degree of D.D. from Yale College, and for the unprecedented length of his Rectorship at Derby, Connecticut, of seventy-two years. It also deserves notice that he was one of the little band who elected the Rev. Samuel Seabury as the first Bishop of the United States, and was in fact also himself elected bishop, which office his modesty led him to decline. This eminent divine made a visitation to Berkshire in May, 1768. He speaks in his report of how even then many of the roads were little better than Indian trails, rendering progress on horseback exceedingly difficult. He also says: "The people express themselves very thankful to me for coming among them, but being new settlers and generally poor were not able to contribute to me half enough to pay the expenses of my journey." That he was a man who estimated so highly the services of the Church as not to be deterred by any inadequacy of compensation, is evinced by the fact that on one occasion he travelled two whole days in a storm over a very bad road to perform a marriage service for a fee of twenty cents; and that it was his frequent custom to travel thirty or forty miles on holydays to conduct the service in towns unsupplied by regular ministrations. The day had, however, come for having a resident mis sionary in Berkshire County, and for ceasing to de 12 pend on visitors at so long a range. In 1770 the Rev. Gideon Bostwick took up his residence in Great Bar rington, and ministered to no less than forty-five towns, among which was Lenox. In a letter written September 25, 1771, he expressly states that in Lenox there have been regular services established, Morning and Evening Prayer being said every Sunday, and sermons read, together with fre quent week-day services. The most prominent men attached to the Church in Lenox at that time can be gathered from the subse quent appointment by Mr. Bostwick, May 20, 1774, of David Perry Clerk, John Whitlock and Eliphalet Fowler Church Wardens, Royce Hall and John Whitlock choristers. A rapid growth of the Church in Lenox plainly appears from Mr. Bostwick's register. The extent of his labors may be inferred from a letter of his which states, "My work obliges me to ride a vast deal (more perhaps by considerable than any one Missionary in America). But I thank God that through the strength of a good constitution and the pleasing pros pect of being the instrument of some good to my fel low creatures, I am enabled cheerfully to perform it." As the result of his untiring labors, there was such growth that a further degree of subdivision of the fi eld was called for, and in 1793 Lenox and Lanesborough, with the im IJ mediately adjoining towns, were set apart as a field under the charge of the celebrated Rev. Daniel Burhans. By this time the Lenox station had so developed as to apply to the Legislature for incorporation as a regular Parish. The Articles of Association read as follows: The great duty which requires all men in society to support the public worship of the Supreme Being, the Creator and Preserver of the Universe, in that mode of worship vvhich is most agreeable to the dictates of their consciences, induce the undersigned to associate for the purpose of exercising that privilege as reserved to them by the Constitution and Laws of their Country; and they hereby mutually agree to support in future in the town of Lenox or the adjoining towns the public wor ship of Almighty God according to the rules and regu lations of the American Protestant Episcopal Church, as established by the Convention of said Church regu larly appointed and held at Salem in the County of Essex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the fifth day and sixth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety. And the more effectually to establish our views and purposes, we do .hereby further agree and promise to and with each other and each for himself that we will subscribe such sum and sums of money to each of our names from year to year as is in proportion to our temporal circum stances, and pay such sums by each of us so subscribed to the proper officers of the Church who shall be ap pointed to receive the same. And we further mutually agree and promise that we will adhere to. all rules and by-laws (provided the same are not repugnant to the established ordinances of the Church aforesaid) which shall from time to time be agreed to by a majority of this association; and it is hereby understood that no rules or by-laws shall be made, or, when established, be repealed, except at the Vestry meeting annually held in Easter. Those who subscribe to these Articles will be considered as regularly established in this Denomi nation of Christians until they give due and seasonable notice of their intention of withdrawing their subscrip tions towards the support of the Priest of the Episcopal Church in the Town of Lenox aforesaid. And we cordially invite all others of our fellow-citizens in the vicinity who are of the same persuasion or whose scruples of conscience do not prevent them to unite in the same laudable undertaking. }ARED BRADLEY. THADDEUS THOMPSON. CLARK BALDWIN. SAMUEL DUNBAR. AzARIAH EGGLESTON. JOSEPH HOLLAND. }ESSE: BRADLEY. JoHN FREESE. TIMOTHY ARNOLD. AARON BENEDICT. 1818 15 Of these }ESSE BRADLEY and J OI-l FREESE were resi dents of Lee. An Act of the Legislature passed March 4, 1805, reads as follows: - Sec. I. Be it enacted by the Senate and Representa tives in General Court assembled and by the authority of the same, that Azariah Eggleston, Samuel Guiney, Thaddeus Thompson, John Gregory, Edward Marten dale, Samuel Dunbar, Elijah Treat, David Dunbar, Selah Cook, Stephen Root, James Smith, Henry Hun ford, Jr., John Hill, John Tyler, David Smith, Titus Parker, John 'Willard, Amasa Glegen, Moses Hall, Samuel Wright, Eleazer Phelps, Samuel Collins, William Wells, Joseph Presby, Jonathan Thompson, and Joseph Geer of Lenox, also eight men (whose names are given) from Lee, also seven from Stockbridge, and two from Pittsfield, together \vith their families, polls, and estates, and such persons as may within one year from the pass ing of this Act join them in the manner herein provided, be and they hereby are incorporated into a religious society by name of the Protestant Episcopal Society of Lenox, with all privileges and immunities incident to other religious societies in this Commonwealth. Sec. 2. Be it further enacted that any person residing in either of the said towns of Lenox, Lee, Stockbridge, 16 or Pittsfield, being of the Episcopal denomination, who shall unite in religious worship with the said Society, and shall leave a certificate signed by the minister or clerk thereof with the clerk of the Town in which he belongs, at any time within one year from the passing of this Act, that he is regularly attendant upon public worship in the said Society, and shall also lodge a notification in writing under his hand, in the office of the clerk of the said Episcopal Society, signifying his having joined the same, such person shall, from and after leaving such cer tificate and lodging such notification as aforesaid, be considered to all intents and purposes, together with his family, polls, and estate, as belonging to the said Epis copal Society; provided, however, that such person shall be liable to pay his proportion of all assess ments which may have been duly and legally made upon the town to which he belongs prior to his joining the said Society. Sec. 3· Be it further enacted, that such persons so constituting the said Episcopal Society, with their fami lies and estates, shall be wholly exempt from any and all assessments other than those legally imposed by the said Society (except as before provided), for any reli gious purpose whatever; that they shall be subject to assessment and collection of all taxes legally granted and agreed upon by the said Society; that it shall be 17 lawful for the assessors and collectors of the said Soci ety for the time being, respectively, to assess and collect the same; that it shall be the duty of the said collectors or other warning officers of the said Society to warn the said persons to attend all society meetings; and that the said persons shall enjoy all the privileges and im munities, and be subject to all the duties and restrictions incident to other religious societies in this Common wealth. (It will be noticed that in those days everybody must belong to some religious society, and help support pub lic religious services somewhere.) . The limit of one year wherein persons might legally join the new Society having elapsed, and many others still desiring to join, further legislation became neces sary, and on June 20, r8o7, a further Act was passed by the Legislature annexing certain other persons to the Society, and giving unrestricted permission to any one to join thereafter at any time by filing the usual certi ficates with the Parish Clerk and the Town Clerk. There were forty persons, together with their families, added by this Act, sixteen being from Stockbridge, one from Pittsfield, and twenty-three from Lenox. With families of the average size, the total number of souls introduced under the terms of these Acts and during the z 18 year following the passage of the first Act, could hardly have been less than about four hundred, which gives an impression concerning the size and consequent influ ence of the Parish somewhat different from the current way of regarding these early days of so-called small things. The names of the men from Lenox who were added by the second Act were Salmon Andrews, Abel Avery, Daniel Butler, ]ethro Butler, Jr., David Collins, Stephen Crittenden, Samuel Palley, Jr., Samuel Gray, Edward Hatch, David Hubby, Moses Merwin, Calvin Perry, Daniel Palley, Joseph Presby, Calvin Sears, Asahel Spragu(;!, Oliver Steadman, Henry Taylor, 7oscp!t Tucker, Ira vVarrener, Warren Warrener, John Whit lock, and Daniel Williams, Jr. It is noticeable that in this second Act it is stated that these gentlemen are added " for pm'oclzial purposes onlyJ." as though it had been feared that advantage might be taken by some not otherwise qualified, of an Act admitting them to all privileges in the way of claim ing sacramental privileges. That the Parish was a centre of church life for a num ber of surrounding towns is evident from the early records antedating the legislative incorporation; e. g., in I 793, a committee to raise the minister's salary was composed of members from Lenox, Lee, and Rich mond. The same was done in 1795· In 1796 this committee contained representatives from Pittsfield, Lee, Richmond, Washington, Lenox, and Stockbridge. In 1798 it was voted that the minister in charge should, with the advice of the Wardens, appoint suitable times for officiating in other adjoining towns. The onward course of the life of the Parish is shown by some extracts from the records, which were for many years kept with exemplary fulness. We read, Decem ber 26, 1793, that "The Protestant Episcopal Church Association of Lenox agreed this day upon Mr. Daniel Burhans, of Lanesborough, a regularly ordained Episco pal Deacon, to officiate in his public character as their teacher for the ensuing year every other Sunday for the sum of two hundred dollars." On May 19, 1794, a meeting was held for organizing and regulating the Society, and proceeded to choice of officers as fol lows: Clerk, Samuel Quinsy; Wardens, John Whit lock and Jesse Bradlee; C!toristers, Amasa Gezen, T. Dewey, and Isaac C. Goodrich. At this meeting a letter from Lanesborough was read stating that they were to send Daniel Burhans to Connecticut to be ordained Priest, and requesting Lenox to unite with them in paying his expenses. Voted to do so, and ' also to sign the requisite testimonials. Voted, that a contribution be made next Lord's Day for a fund to 20 defray the expenses of the ordination, and that the members come prepared for that purpose. April I 3, I 79 5, the above officers were re-elected, and Jared Bradley, of Lee, was chosen Reading Clerk, and Azariah Eggleston Treasurer. It was voted, "That as, of late, rude boys and others have much disturbed the con gregation in time of public worship, a suitable person be chosen to preserve order and decency in the hours of public devotion." Daniel vVilliams was chosen. November 30, voted to continue the arrangement with Lanesborough another year, and to pay Mr. Burhans two hundred and fifty dollars and his wood if he resided in Lenox, but two hundred and twen.ty-five dollars if he resided in Lanesborough. Six months' notice was required of any intending dissolution of the arrange ment. On March 2 5, 1796, Azariah Eggleston was elected delegate to the Episcopal Convention to be held at Boston. April r6, I797, we find a Society meeting held, elections being no longer by the Vestry. This meeting voted that the constitution adopted by the Protestant Episcopal Convention held at Salem in the County of Essex, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, October 5 and 6, 1790, was had before this Society for their consideration, and after mature deliberation was by the Society accepted and adopted as their rule of conduct. December 2 5, I 797, voted to accept and 21 establish the foregoing constitution for the regulation of said Society. That all was not plain sailing in the Parish and choir, the following vote shows : May 4, I 799, that " Samuel Dunbar and Clark Baldwin and Jared Bradlee be a committee to take into consideration the grievances of Mrs. Way, and to regulate the sing ing." July 22, 1799, voted that a committee of three be appointed for the purpose of receiving information . from the Rev. Daniel Burhans of his actual intention of removing into the State of Connecticut at any time between this date and Christmas next, and on his appli cation to said committee they are authorized in behalf of this Society to give him an honorable discharge in writing, expressing our approbation of his conduct while in the ministry with us, and authorizing the em ployment of any candidate Mr. Burhans may recom~ mend during any absence during that time. Hoping that he would return, stated supplies only were engaged for a time. A few words respecting the life of this first Rector of ·Trinity Church may be of interest: Daniel Burhans was of Dutch antecedents. His father was poor; his mother sickly and burdened with a large family. He had no other opportunities of learn 22 ing beyond what was possible m three or four months of attendance on the district school each year. Surely not a very cheerful outlook for one desirous of gaining an education. But so zealous was he that his teachers became interested in his progress, and one of them promised that if he could be fitted for college, he might look for assistance in undertaking a college course. Young Burhans eagerly set himself to work, andat last was ready. As the commencement of the college year grew near, he journeyed some twenty miles to his old teacher's house to see about the promised assistance. What was his disappointment at finding his benefactor at the point of death, and all possibility of assistance from this quarter at an end! Thus foiled of his in tended purpose, he cast about for some other form of intellectual activity, and, being offered the principalship of the Academy in the north part of Lanesborough, he accepted, and took up his residence in this town, his house being a little north of that now occupied by Sidney Newton. While he was engaged in teaching at this place, the town was visited by one of the old-time New England revivals. Mr. Burhans, who had always been under Congregationalist influences, was somewhat repelled by some features of this revival, and while exercised in mind over his growing divergency from the religious 23 teaching of those with whom he was associated, a friend placed in his hands a copy of the thirty-nine articles of the Church of England; on reading these he was struck with their correspondence with the views he had inde pendently formed. He soon changed his church rela tions, and on Mr. Bostwick's solicitation was ordained deacon in order that he might assist in the servic~s of the Church, especially in the rector's frequently pro longed absences. Although this was done with no thought of discontinuing teaching, Providence, who had larger things in view for Mr. Burhans, ordered other wise; and on Mr. Bostwick's unexpected death soon afterwards, Mr. Burhans was constrained to take full charge of the Parish and eventually abandon his school. Mr. Burhans remained in Lanesboroug·h and Lenox for about six years more, and then removed to New town, Connecticut, where he remained during his active ministry. He was a man of large, commanding appear ance, ruddy face, quick nervous movements, and never allowed the natural conservatism of old age to check in any way his sympathies with constant progress. He lived to the ripe age of ninety-one, being married five times. He was prominent in many Church move ments, being associated with the organization of the General Theological Seminary and with the beginnings of the Church in Pittsfield. After Mr. Burhans decided to remove from Lanes borough and Lenox, the Rev. Gamaliel Thatcher was engaged to supply the two parishes, giving three fourths of his time to Lanesborough and one fourth to Lenox. The compensation from Lenox was $65.34 per year. This engagement took effect December 27, 1799· Mr. Thatcher was then in deacon's orders, not receiving priest's orders until r8or. On February 22, r8oo, it was voted to employ Ezra Bradley till Septem ber 1, for one quarter of the time, at the rate of twenty five pounds for a quarter of a year; and beginning with r8or a committee was chosen to sign certificates of membership, as though the Parish were growing, a special meeting February 8 having to be called for this purpose. April 5, r8or, an agreement was made with Great Barrington to have Samuel Griswold for one half of the time at each church, paying $450, whichever town he resided in paying $250 of it. There are records of baptisms by Amos Pardee in r8o3. and by Daniel Burhans in r804. September 17, 1810, voted to dismiss Rev. Samuel Griswold, and that a committee be appointed to inform him that they had voted to dismiss him and to make any arrangements necessary to carry the same into effect. A new church was consecrated in Lenox, September 7, I8I8, by Bishop Griswold, who also expressed much praise for the union and zeal of the people. In I822 we find the last mention of Reading Clerks, two of whom had officiated for several years. In I827 the presence of new blood was indicated by the election of Edward A. Newton and Lester Filley as lay delegates. In I828 Edward A. Newton was appointed lay delegate to the Convention of the Eastern Diocese at Bellows Falls, Vermont. Dr. R. M. Chapman labored for four months about this time in Lenox for one Sunday a month; from I820 to I825 Rev. Aaron Humphrey, of Lanesborough, officiated one Sunday in the month. Mr. Motte, of South Carolina, labored from I825 to I 826 as missionary in Lenox and vicinity. An entry made in the Parish records states that Rev. Benjamin C. C. Parker came to Lenox November, I 826, and that he officiated a portion of the time until November 29, I832, when he left to go to Vermont, where he had a prospect of a better support. His salary was $500 and wood. In September, I833, Lenox and Otis continued un supplied, and were mentioned in the report of the Board of Missions as "worthy of commendation for continuing steadfast and waiting with patience till the Lord shall send them help;" but the report also stated that "while we neglect them, their state cannot improve." In I 834 Rev. S. P. Parker supplied the pulpit in connection with 26 his work at Stockbridge. He was paid $roo a year from the Board of Missions. In 1836 Rev. Mr. Wal cott officiated, driving up from Stockbridge. It is stated that "few clergymen were more able and will ing to preach much, and to labor from house to house, but that in so wide a field, which included also Lee and South Lee, there should be at least some one to labor with him." In 1838 it was recorded that "a small flock, long without a shepherd, but still anxiously desir ing (no people more so) the bread of life, were to be found in Lenox." The same words were repeated in 1839 in the Diocesan Report. In 1840 Rev. George Waters came, and in 1841 the missionary report states that it is thought desirable that his labors should be sustained. Some idea of the size of the Parish at this period can be derived from the following figures: in 1823 there were fifty families and fifty-one communicants, in r 828 thirty-seven families and forty-five communicants, in 1844 thirty communicants; and it was stated that the Parish "was but the remnant of one once large and flourishing, but reduced to its present state of feebleness by death and removals. Those, however, who remain are excelled by none in firm devotion to the Church, and faithfulness of living; and life is not quite extinct in this branch of our grow "ng community." 27 Dr. Chapman again officiated in Lenox for a short time about 1845. In 1846 Rev. S. T. Carpenter, of Van Deusenville, officiated. for one Sunday in. the month. In r 847 the Report of the Board of Missions states that Lenox suffers for a want of missionary effort, and is vacant. In 1848 the Rev. F. A Foxcroft, of Van Deusenville, officiated. In I 846 it is mentioned that the Parish Church is greatly improved, painted on the outside and decorated on the inside. It is said: "There exists a feeble remnant only waiting for the consolation of Israel, while the ways of Zion mourn because none come to the solemn feast." It is worthy of mention that the repairs above referred to were made by the ladies of the Sewing Circle. The Rev. Mr. Carpenter says, as a result of his labors: "With deep humility, I am compelled to say, Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" At this period Congregationalism was predominant in Lenox, and there was no feeling of need for the Church's year and her orderly worship. The formation of the Stockbridge Parish and the Pitts field Parish, and the erection of a church in Pittsfield had drawn away many residents, including some of the wealthiest and most valuable. May 8, 1850, Dr. Pyn chon was called to take Stockbridge in the morning and Lenox in the evening. The average attendance at this time in the winter is reported as being eighty; in the summer the church was full. The report of the Board of Missions states, in 18 so, that notwithstanding great efforts to prevent it, "this Parish, from one of the strongest churches . in Berkshire County, has now be come the weakest, and for the last four years has been without stated services. Lenox has now become a place of resort in summer by the inhabitants of New York and Boston, and when open in summer the church has been not infrequently wholly filled with a congre gation of zealous worshippers. There seem to be also some indications of reviving interest on the part of many of the inhabitants of the town, and it is proposed to open the church regularly for divine service during the present summer. For this object a liberal subscription has been already made, and we cannot but hope that with the aid of the Board of Missions this ancient Par ish may again arise from the dust and resume its former place." It was while Mr. Pynchon was in Boston early in 1850 that he met in the street Bishop Eastburn, whom he knew very well, who said to him, " I want you to go down to Berkshire. There is a great deal of Unitarian ism there, and I think you can check it." Mr. Pynchon accepted the invitation, and early in the spring of 1849 travelled by the New Western Railroad to State Line, 29 and from there was driven through the picturesque scenery of West Stockbridge, by the romantic Bowl, to Stockbridge, where he spent the five years of his active parochial life. The Parish had been organized by the exertion of the Rev. Samuel Parker, and U pjohn had recently built for it one of his most charming rural churches. Here, among cultivated people, with energy and devotion, Mr. Pynchon made full proof of his min istry. There was among his parishioners the English novelist, Mr. G. P. R. James, whose gift of a clock required a tower in which to place it. This was Mr. Pynchon's first work in the parish,-to secure the means to erect the tower, so well remembered, of the old St. Paul's. Mr. James was an earnest, devout Churchman, and a great help to the young Deacon. Learning that the church building at Lenox was only opened occa sionally, and that the congregation of the once strong Parish of Trinity had dwindled, Mr. Pynchon drove over one afternoon in the early summer to see Miss Quincy, a lady whose faith and devotion ought to be commemorated to-day, and consult with her as to the prospect of holding service. He found her living in a small cottage. She was somewhat stern and forbidding in aspect, but when Mr. Pynchon explained his errand, immediately unbent, and discussed enthusiastically the details of the proposed service. The church was the old white building so beloved by the old members of the Parish. The chancel was small, and crowded with altar, prayer-desk, and pulpit; the pews were high-backed and uncomfortable; the organ was old and wheezy; around the wall of the church were painted appropriate texts. A service for a late hour on Sunday afternoon after Mr. Pynchon had held two ser vices at Stockbridge, was announced. In spite of all the discouragement of a closed church, a few had kept alive their devotion, and the congregation was unex pectedly large. A few people from New York had begun to find out the beauty of Lenox as a summer home; among them such prominent families as the Newbolds, Schieffells, Schermerhorns, Hegemans, and others, who pledged their hearty support as the con gregation crowded around to thank Mr. Pynchon for the service. He announced that the services would be held regularly every Sunday afternoon. As he went out of the church, he saw a figure seated on the steps. It arose as he approached, and, shaking a forefinger at him, said in a very deep ·and impressive voice : " Your music is execrable, execrable! If you will have that organ sent to Pittsfield for repairs and tuning, I will pay for it." The seated figure was Miss Fanny Kemble. She became a regular attendant at the services, a liberal contributor, and a warm personal friend of Mr. Pynchon. 31 Mr. Bradley, whose home was near Lee, Mr. Barnes from the Pond, and others of the former congregation were at this first service. So thorough was the revival of interest that when in the following summer a fair was held on Miss Quincy's lawn, for the benefit of the church, to secure money for necessary repairs, four hundred dollars were realized. With this the old pews were removed and replaced with those of a more modern pattern, that no one could have an excuse for remaining away from the house of God. The prayer desk and pulpit were brought out of the chancel and placed on a platform, and such other alterations made as rendered the church more attractive. The ser vices continued to be well attended, and Mr. Pynchon had the satisfaction of having revived a parish that had been the mother parish of all that portion of Berkshire. \tVhen, in I 8 54, he resigned, an effort was made to obtain a resident minister; Mr. N cwbold and others subscribing over one thousand dollars for that purpose. Dr. Pynchon looks back with much thankfulness upon what he was permitted to d was placed in the church by Mrs. Stebbins. This font has since been presented to the l'dission at Berkshire. A new organ was placed in the church in r866. The rapidly advancing prosperity of the Parish at last found expression in the erection of the new church, whose completion and consecration in June, I 888, as the Bishop remarked, " crowned Mr. Field's long rectorship with glory and honor." This church was designed by Colonel R. T. Auch muty, then Senior \!Varden of the Parish; and its erection was largely due to his assiduity and liberality. The corner-stone of the new church was laid on Sept. 8, r885, by Mr. Field, assisted by ex-President Chester A. Arthur. It was consecrated on June 19, I 888, by ·Bishop Paddock, the sermon being preached by Bishop Potter, of New York. It is proper to remark that the erection of the new church was not the only achievement in church build ing during Mr. Field's rectorship. In 1873 the old church was greatly enlarged and beautified, a new chan cel and transepts being added; the first service in the church as thus reconstructed being held June I 5, I873· On April 6, 1890, Mr. Field's work in Lenox came to a close, and on May I, 1890, he was succeeded by Rev. Wm. M. Grosvenor, who had been for two t .. !888 35 years assistant at Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York. On November 12, r892, a new Rectory having been erected, it was formally opened by the Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts. APPENDIX. THE following particulars respecting several of the Rectors have been added in this place, as being likely to be of interest to friends of the Parish. Particulars concerning the others will be found scattered through the pages of the History. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF THE REV. HENRY ALBERT YARDLEY. A. D. 1834- A. D. 1882. I-I ENRY ALBERT YARDLEY, the second son of Dr. THO~AS and SARAH WARNER (]OHNSON) YARDLEY, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on December 20, 1834. He was descended from William Yardley, one of the original settlers of Pennsylvania. His parents were respected members of the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends, and he was brought up in the tenets of that religious body. He attended the celebrated Friends' School in Philadelphia, where he took a high rank in his class. At seventeen he was ready to enter the University of Pennsylvania. He had a great admiration for the classics, and wished to become thoroughly proficient in them. After a few months at the University, not finding the classical course as com plete or thorough as he desired, he determined to go to Yale. In March, 1852, he joined the class of 1855, then in the last term of its Freshman year. In a class which included many brilliant men, he soon acquired and re tained a reputation for thorough and accurate scholarship. To his classmates he presented the rare combination of youthful grace and intellectual force. Unobtrusive and retiring, there was, when one knew him, the charm of a whole-souled cordiality. To his intimate friends there was the unfolding of a deeply spiritual nature. His person:~! appearance, as his friend and classmate describes it, was striking: " I can recall meeting him daily on my way down town before I knew him. We were in different divisions, and I had only heard of him as one of the best scholars in the class. The impres sion his large head and grave features and slight figure and deep-set eyes made on me then was that of a digni fied and intellectual young man; and though it was a boyish judgment, it was a sound one." Graduating with honor, he spent nearly two years in European travel, studying German at Munich and Berlin, and visiting many places of interest. On his return he entered the law-office of George W. Biddle in Philadel 39 phia, remaining for a year, when he was recalled to the College as Tutor, where he remained fifteen months. It was about this time that from sincere and earnest inquiry he forsook the religion of his forefathers, to find in the doctrines of the Church, with her creed simple yet comprehensive, her worship devout and orderly, her doctrines clear, primitive, apostolic, that faith which could satisfy his soul. He became a candidate for Holy Orders, and under the direction of Bishop Williams studied theology. Hebrew he acquired in New York, and attended some of the lectures at the General Theo logical Seminary. He never was at any Divinity School as a student, but read and pondered the volumes indi cated by the Bishop. On December 22, r 86o, in St. Paul's Church, New Haven, he was ordained Deacon by Bishop Williams. He was married, May 22, r86r, to Miss Jane Andrews ·Woolsey, of New Haven. It was soon after his marriage, in June, r86r, that he became rector of Trinity Church, Lenox. The town had not then the reputation it now has as a summer home for New York and Boston. It was a quiet, restful place where a few persons who knew the beauty of the hills, the clear atmosphere, and the invigorating air, came. The men of the Parish were few; Mr. Ellery Sedgwick, thoughtful and generous, and Mr. Spencer were then the chief men on the Vestry. Miss Quincy, a mother in Israel, whose hands often left clean the sanctuary, who was the devoted friend of the poor, whose zeal and energy sustained the parish in many a crisis; Miss Kemble, with her positive English ways, her Unitarian views, and her earnest use of the Prayer Book,- were among the friends Mr. Yardley made. He had a lofty conception of his parish work; he went from house to house, he preached with power and unction, he threw himself heart and soul into the work, and found the Parish slowly and surely growing in numbers and interest. He urged the purchase of a bell, and it was .bought, after some exer tion, and rung with much satisfaction, the people being glad to depend no longer upon the Congregational bell. The people were attached to him. He saw their needs, and, as the first clergyman solely in charge of Lenox, tried to meet them. On October I4, I 86 r, in Trinity Church, Lenox, he was ordained Priest by Bishop Eastburn. · Soon after, the first symptoms of spinal disease appeared, and he was ordered to rest. It was to him a bitter grief at the beginning of his ministry to be thus compelled to join the reserve corps, - to only pray for Christ's Church militant, and not be a leader of God's host in the thick of the warfare against sin, Satan, and death. To his parishioners he had endeared him self by his manliness, his gentle manners, and his true 4I regard for them; and they felt keenly the pang of parting. After two years spent in rest and travel, he came to Middletown, at the request of Bishop Williams, and was made chaplain of the Berkeley Divinity School, and also Professor of Christian Evidences and Homiletics. In this position, for eighteen years he bravely fought against the disease that was killing him. He prepared . carefully his lectures, he enriched them with illustra tions, he drew to himself the confidence of many classes of students, who came to him with their questions of casuistry, theology, and personal troubles. He was their sympathizing friend and adviser. Devout and humble, brave and true, he persevered until the end. When he could no longer go to the class-room, he heard his classes in his study. Shortly before his death he said to his wife: " I have never done any active parish work except that short time in Lenox, but, after all, I have helped to train more than a hundred parish priests who can do what I could not. It is a great thing to teach the teachers." Professor Yardley never published much. His notes on the Evidences were intended only for his classes, and had no general circulation. There were a few articles upon the Church which appeared in the " Churchman." That he could have written books which would live, is the universal opinion of his friends. He bore uncom plainingly great pain, was the life and soul of his home, was considerate for others, and until the day before his death was dressed and in his wheel-chair in the family sitting-room with his wife and children. Upon Monday, in Holy Week, April 3, 1882, his days of weariness and painfulness ended, in the forty-eighth year of his age. His classmate, Professor Johnson, thus describes his burial in Indian Hill Cemetery: "He was carried to his grave on the Middletown hills by his students on a chill April day. It was as little of a worldly, conventional funeral as can be imagined,- seri ous and solemn, not sad. It seemed to me there was nothing, not even the Connecticut hills and the spacious earth, so strong and so real and so likely to last as the life of the frail wasted Christian scholar whose body we laid in the grave. Those venerable and apostolic men, Bishop Williams and Dr. Woolsey, his spiritual and in tellectual teachers, stood reverently by the side of the open grave." And there, under the shadow of the cross, does his body rest until the day shall dawn. Priest and scholar, soldier and servant, he fell with his armor on, having fought the good fight of faith. 43 THOMAS RUGGLES PYNCHON. A. D. r823. HOMAS RUGGLES PYNCHON, son of WIL T LIAM HENRY RUGGLES and MARY (MOREDOCK) PYNCHON, was born at the family homestead on Temple Street, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1823. He is of sturdy New England stock. Among his ancestors are ·william Pynchon of Springfield, Massachusetts, and two well-known Congregational ministers of Guilford, Connecticut, the Rev. Thomas Russell, 1695 to I 728, and the Rev. Thomas Russell, Jr., 1729 to 1770. His grandfather was a loyalist, and in company with many other refugees - nearly twer;ty thousand, it is estimated -was confined to the city of New York during the greater part of the Revolution. He was one of the agents who reported upon the advisability of accepting the offers of the British government of free land in the provinces, and went there to settle the town of Shel burne, Nova Scotia. His son, who was a merchant, after~ ward recovered the family estates, and purchased a house for his parents near the old Russell homestead in Guil ford. Mr. Pynchon spent many of his early years in Boston, under the roof of a relative, Miss I-I ale. l-Ie has 44 been from boyhood intimately acquainted with his cousin Edward Everett Hale and other members of that family. He attended the famous Latin School of Boston, and it was his wish to be entered as a student at Harvard College. But it was thought best for him to be matriculated at Washington (now Trinity) College, Hartford, Connecticut. Entering in I 837, with bitter disappointment at the small number of students, he was reconciled when he saw the noble appearance of the Faculty as they filed into the chapel. President Wheaton, a polished scholar; Bishop Brownell, that clear-sighted theologian; Dr. Totten, able and distin guished; Dr. J ackso.n, whose ability made him succes sively the President of two colleges,- were the most p·rominent members of the Faculty. He was graduated with honor in I 841, and after some time spent in travel, became, in 1843, tutor in the College. He studied theology under the Rev. Dr. George Burgess, then Rec tor of Christ Church, Hartford, and afterward first Bishop of Maine, and the well-known Dr. Charles Mason. He was ordained Deacon by Bishop Brownell in St. Paul's Church, New Haven, June 14, 1848. From I85o to 1854 he was Rector of Trinity Church, Lenox. Resigning his Berkshire charge in the fall of I 8 54; Mr. Pynchon became Scovil Professor of Chemistry and Natural Science in Trinity College; from 1857 to 45 1882 he was Librarian, and from r86o to 1864 Chaplain, of the College, and again in I 866-1867. Upon the death of Dr. Abner Jackson, in 1874, he was elected President, which office he filled with dignity for nearly ten years. The removal of the College was the chief event of his Presidency. In 1877 he became the Hobart Professor of Moral and Political Philosophy. In 1883 he resigned the Presidency, and accepted the Brownell Professorship of Moral Philosophy, which he now holds. In 1865 St. Stephen's College gave him the degree of Doctor in Sacred Theology, and in 1877 Columbia that of Doctor of Laws. The personal appearance of Dr. Pynchon is striking. He is over six feet in height, erect, and well propor tioned. In repose his countenance is rather stern, but it relaxes when he speaks. His manner is that of the courteous, polished gentleman. His interest in his only parochial charge is still keen, and he takes pleasure in recalling the days when the Church in Berkshire had not the strength she now possesses. For Gideon Bostwick he had, from conversation with the older parishioners, conceived an intense admiration. He spoke of him as an apostle whose visits were eagerly anticipated, and who wherever he went left a benediction behind him. He thought his apostolic career ought to be better known. Of Dr. Burhans he also spoke. He dined with him at Dr. Harvey Cromwell's in New Haven. He called him an old Tory who never lost an opportunity of de riding American ways and institutions. "Your Con stitution," said Dr. Burhans, " is all wrong. It has no mention of Almighty God." WILLIAM HENRY BROOKS. ~fiLLIAM H. BROOKS was ordained Deacon by Bishop Meade in Christ Chu_rch, Alexandria, Virginia, July 16, 1852, and Priest, by Bishop Lee, of Delaware, on January 13, 1855· After leaving Lenox, he had parishes in Plymouth, Webster (of which he was the founder), and Hanover, where he remained more than sixteen years. Dr. Brooks's pastorate at Hanover was a noteworthy one. During his sixteen years there he endeared him self to all the people round about. He took a vital in terest in everything of public interest, - the schools, the library, and the Grand Army Post. . It was he who sug gested the monument in memory of the soldiers of the town who died in the civil war, and its erection was largely owing to his unwearied labors. This was the 47 more notable, smce Dr. Brooks was a Southerner by birth, training, and kindred. He was, however, always a Union man, even during the period which tested a man's allegiance the hardest. When impaired health obliged him to give up his parish, the whole town was present at the farewell re ception, and the purse of more than $rooo which was presented to him on that occasion was made up of con tributions from almost every man, woman, and child in the place. They and their neighbors in Rockland further proved the esteem and regard which they felt for him, by electing him Representative to the General Court from the Fifth Plymouth District in 1889, without the slightest agency on his part, and almost before he was aware of what :w.as going on. He was the first and only Episcopalian clergyman ever in the Massachusetts Legislature, serving as House Chairman of the Com mittee on Parishes and Religious Societies, and as a member of the Committee on Woman Suffrage. The "Southern Churchman " said of him in this con nection: " Secretary Brooks is one of the few clergy men who can go gracefully into politics and keep from InJury. He served with ability, and won the respect of his associates in both parties." Since his charg·e at Hanover, Dr. Brooks has had no parochial charge, though he has "supplied'' from time to time. His time has been well taken up with his duties as Secretary of the Convention, and as Private Secretary to Bishops Brooks and Lawrence. His thirty years of service include the period when he was Assistant Secretary under Rev. Dr. Clinch, who held the office even longer, - thirty-six years. When Dr. Clinch, in r884, at the age of seventy, was obliged to decline a re-election, on account of impaired health, Dr. Brooks was unanimously chosen to succeed him. He is quoted as having once said that his highest am bition was to become the very best Diocesan Secretary in the countryj and to keep the records of the Diocese in the best possible shape. He certainly has succeeded. The convention journals are monuments of his industry, pains, and power of exact classification. "No conven tion journal in the country," said an eminent clergyman, the other day, " is better edited." He is methodical, most careful, and even when he leaves some of the work to an assistant, does not let it go without the most scrupulous oversight. In Dr. Brooks's recently published" Sketch of Phillips Brooks in his Character as a Bishop," which is, perhaps, the most vital and intimate sketch of the late Bishop which has yet appeared, -for Dr. Brooks was the Bishop's Private Secretary,- he credits the Bishop 49 with attributes which are also characteristic of himself. "A dominant characteristic in his episcopate," says he, "was his fidelity in all things." Again: "Nothing was so little or so unimportant as to escape his attention." JUSTIN FIELD. r8 r 6-r893· USTIN FIELD was born in Northfield, Massachu J setts, April IO, I8r6. He was the son of Justin and Harriet Power Field. Tie prepared for College at Northfield Academy, and graduated at Amherst College in 1835· He studied at the Union Seminary in 1838 1839, and at the Andover Theological Seminary, I840 r84r. He was ordained Deacon on the Feast of the Epiphany, I842, by Bishop Griswold, and was ordained Priest by Bishop Griswold, September 7, 1842. Ire was then engaged in church work in ] amaica Plain, and the vicinity of Boston, until I845, when he be came Rector of Christ Church, Corning, New York. From there he went to Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he was R e cto!~ of St. Paul's Church, I 846-I 8 50. He was Rector of St. ] ames' Church, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, I850-I852; of Grace Church, Medford, 4 so Massachusetts, I852-I862; and of Trinity Church, Lenox, Massachusetts, twenty-eight years, from I 862 to I890. During his Rectorship in Lenox the old church was enlarged, and the new Trinity Church was built, and consecrated ] une I9, I888. In I 890 he went to Europe, spending some time in travel, and in I 892, while in the South, he preached for some weeks in Brooksville, Florida, where in this short time he became very much beloved. A friend writes: " His labors there were greatly blessed, - the crown of his earthly ministry." He was married, June 26, 1862, to Caroline Cushing Wilde, of Boston, daughter of George Cobb Wilde, Esq. (Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court), and Ann Jean nette Dence. She died March 23, 1888, leaving two daughters. He was married, April 26, 1890, to Louise Hope Irene, daughter of Hon. W. H. Hilton Higgs, of London, England. He departed this life at West Newton, Massachusetts, March 5, 1893. "Now is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the Saints." " Mr. Field was a man of far more intellectual power than even his acquaintances knew, but he always shrank from publicity, and seemed to have no desire for fame, as the world considers fame; but he always did his day's work with a mind to see the intense interest of sr this life, and a heart to feel the joys and sorrows of others." Devoted to the Church, steadfast in the faith, he ever preached Christ aud Him crucified. To those whose blessing and privilege it was to know him intimately, his life seemed hid with Christ in God. The following dates respecting some of the clergy whose connection with the parish was very brief are added for the sake of completeness: EZRA BRADLEE was ordained Deacon by Bishop Jarvis, September 30, 1798. Deposed, 1804. GAMALIEL THATCHER was ordained Deacon by Bishop Jarvis, June 8, r8oo. Died, r8o6. SA;\fUEL GRISWOLD was ordained Deacon by Bishop Jarvis, ovember 7, 1803. Died a little after 1820. BE~JA;\IIN C. C. PARKER was ordained Deacon by Bishop Griswold, May 17, 1826. Died, January 25, !859· GEORGE WATERS was ordained Deacon by Bishop Griswold, July 17, 1836. The Rev. S. T. CARPENTER was ordained Deacon by Bishop Moore, July 13, 1837. The most of his 1111111S try was passed in the Diocese of Delaware. 52 The Rev. F. A. FOXCROFT was ordained Deacon in 1832. He spent the early part of his ministry as assist ant to the Rev. Alonzo Potter, the Rector of St. Paul's Church, Boston. After spending a few years in Western Massachusetts, he removed to Maryland, where the most of his ministerial life was passed. During the latter years of his life, he resided in Cambridge, Massachu setts, suffering much from poor health, and died at the ripe age of seventy-eight, universally beloved and respected. The Rev. AARON HUMPHREY came to Massachusetts from Maine, having officiated in Hallowell and Portland. He remained in Lanesborough and Lenox for about ten years, and then removed to the \Vest, dying in Beloit, Wisconsin, in 185 8, in the ninety-first year of his age. The Rev. S. P. PARKER spent the larger portion of his ministry in Berkshire County, principally at Stock bridge and Sheffield. He was also at Amherst, and it was due to his efforts that the present stone church was erected. He died in November, 1880, full of years and of honor, keeping busy with his loved work to the very last. 53 list of QC-bunb mmlarlJena. JARED BRADLEY. S. C. WRIGHT. ALLEN N. SMITH. R. S. TucKER. OLIVER c. BULLARD. CHARLES KNEELAND. DA:\'IEL BARNES. R. T. AucHMUTY. WILLIAM ELLERY SEDGWICK. RICHARD GooDMAN. EDMUND SPENCER. JAMES CLIFFORD. WILL!fu'\1 DEMING. DANIEL BARNES. G. D. WILSON. ERASTUS PARKER. GILBERT PECK. ELI L. WILLSON. RODNEY GREEN. EDWIN CURTIS. WILLIAM GREEN. HEJ\'RY w. BISHOP, JR. w. PtERPONT. EDllfUND SPENCER. P. c. KANE. WILLIAM s. SMITH. WICKHAM HoFFMAN. S. MILTON CooPER. s. c. WRIGHT. WILLIAM P. FISH. RrcHARD GoomtAN. WILLIAM ELLERY SEDGWICK. GEORGE HIGGINSON, JR. "WILLIAM DEMING. H. SCHERMERHORN. 54 WILLIAM D. CURTISS. WILLIAM R. ROBESON. R. SA.."\'DS TUCKER. L. S. BuTLER. EDWARD McDoNALD. M. w. BUTLER. R. T 0 AUCHMUTY 0 DAVID W. BISHOP. CHARLES ASTOR BRISTED. GEORGE KNEELAND. F. AuGusTus ScHERMERHORN. GEORGE W. FoLSoM. GEORGE B. WARREN, JR. }AMES CLIFFORD. GEORGE B. DORR. JOHN S. BARNES. CHARLES KNEELAND. JOHN E. PARSONS.. A. P. DAVIS. CHARLES LANIER. R. s. OLIVER. GEORGE H. MORGAN. H. M. BRAEM. ANSON PHELPS STOKES. PHILIP J 0 SANDS. EDMUND SPENCER. EDWIN CURTIS. EDWARD McDoNALD.