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From Biographical Directory of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Free Baptist Ministers and Preachers by Fredrick C. Burnett and provided courtesy of the Yarmouth County Museum. 

Frederick C. Bennett is the  leading  Free Baptist researcher in New Brunswick, Canada


Hartt, Samuel, Sr, Allinite in New Brunswick; born 1745 died 1814.

 

Samuel Hartt Sr.  was born in Lynn (Massachusetts), the son of Jonathan Hartt, and was an early settler in the St.John River area of NB. He was converted under the labours of Henry Alline* .He preached occasionally and, along with Elijah Estabrooks, Zebulon Estey, Archelaus Hammond, Zebedee Ring and others, kept up a regular meeting in the Canning/Jemseg area until 1792, when a reformation took place which resulted in over thirty converts. Some of these, however, soon fell into "great disorders" -~ ~ ~ ~ especially in the area of sexual morality -by following the instructions of a man named John Lunt. This distressed those "watchful Christians" like Estabrooks, Hartt, Ring, Estey and a Newcomb, who separated from this group.

 

Many in this New Light congregation became Baptist in 1800, as did  several members of Hartt's family. Hartt's name is not in the Waterborough or Prince William Baptist church books, but he may have joined another one of their churches, as some thought that he joined that denomination. This is not certain, however, since it is known that he was friendly" with Daniel Shaw*, who stayed with Hartt when he was in that area. Samuel Hartt, Sr and his second wife were the parents of Elder Samuel O Hartt*..

 

 

Free Baptist Biographies Hartt, Samuel, Elder, Allinite and Free Christian Baptist in New Brunswick; born Apr. 1799, died 16 Jan.1867.

 

Samuel Hartt was a son of Samuel Hartt, Sr*, and his second wife, Clarissa Hammond, a daughter of Archelaus Hammond, His father had been a follower and possibly a convert of Henry Alline*, and had once been an Allinite preacher. Samuel Sr had a large family from both of his marriages. Samuel Jr' s half brothers and his mother's family all became Calvinistic Baptists.

 

As a young man, Samuel became much concerned about his soul. This distress culminated in a religious experience, one that did not occur at a religious meeting. This led him to pray with his neighbours in their homes. At the Calvinistic Baptist meetings after the sermons, he would exhort the people to repent and seek the Lord, a practice most members of the church opposed. He then began to organize his own meetings, where he continued to exhort the people. These included meetings at Lincoln and Oromocto, where he found some who believed salvation was free to all who would seek it. Some of these people were converted through his efforts.

 

In 1823 Hartt married Mary E. Estey and moved to a farm at Jacksontown soon afterwards. On the way he happened, to meet Henry Cronkhite* at Southampton. Inspired by his conversation With Hartt, Cronkhite reclaimed his Christian faith, later became a very effective minister.

 

Hartt's relatives, it has been argued, were opposed to his preaching. This may be true as regards to those in Fredericton and Kingsclear, but nevertheless, a church record from the first Saturday in June 1829 notes that "Samuel Hartt related his experience to the Baptist Church of Prince William and Queensbury , was received and Baptized, chose to stand so for the present. By order of the Church. (Signed) Lot P. Hammond." This statement confirms that the Prince William Baptist church believed the experience related by Hartt was genuine, and thus agreed that he was eligible for baptism, which was performed by his uncle Lathrop Hammond. However, it also indicates that Hartt did not enter into covenant with or subscribes to their articles, and so was not a member of the church.

 

Hartt must have met Daniel Shaw* prior to conversion, as Shaw used to stay at his father's home whenever he was in the area. He would have met other Al1inites at Oromocto and at Wakefield, where he lived after 1823. Hartt was ordained by Samuel Nutt* in March 1831 (probably with the assistance of others who may not have been elders), but he had been preaching a number of years before Nutt came to the St John River area.

 

The first church organized by Hartt was at Simonds and Brighton in Carleton County about the time he was ordained. On 5 September 1831 he baptized a number of people at Upper Sussex (where he had baptized seven persons in March 1831), and organized a church of fourteen members the following day. He had been to Millstream, and perhaps Upper Sussex with Nathaniel Churchill* in June 1830 for a short time. After Hartt organized the church at Upper Sussex, he went to Midland and Hampstead, and gathered churches at Lower and Upper Hampstead, both of which became strong churches. Although he brought about the organization of the church at Lower Hampstead, meetings had been taking place there for many years.

 

Hartt traveled up and down the Saint John River from Tobique to Queens County. Writing about Hartt's extensive ministry, Edward Weyman* noted that "for a number of years he made more converts than any man in NB, he had a more general care of the churches than any of the other ministers, and often preached in Calvinistic churches and they received much benefit." Weyman also thought that Hartt began more churches than any other man in the Conference.

 

The following notes on Hartt ' s ministry are garnered from the old records, and are by no means complete. He organized a church on the Becaguirnec on 14 August 1832 with twenty-four members. On 13 October 1833 he helped organize a church at Lincoln. In January 1842 he was chosen pastor of a church in Queensbury in an unsuccessful attempt to have him recognized as a minister qualified to perform marriages. In 1849 he helped organize churches at Dover and the parish of Moncton. On 6 April 1842 he organized a church in Saint John. He was moderator of the Conference five times between 1837 and 1856. In 1854 a number of people were converted in the Oromocto River region under his labours. He had baptized seventy-four converts by July 1855, and that Fall he baptized nineteen more at Williamstown (Lakeville), where he organize a church of twenty-six members. In 1856 he baptized twenty-six a Coldstream (Mount Pleasant), where he helped organize a church. He also helped in a revival at Lower Brighton when seventy-three were baptized and added to the church, and he baptized more people at Campbell Settlement. In 1858 he baptized eighteen at Caverhill Settlement in York County, and eight at Coverdale. In 1863 he baptized twenty-seven at Upper Presque Isle (Tracey Mills), three at Peel, and two at Knowlesville where he helped organize the church. In 1864 he baptized five at Gordonville and fifteen at Upper Hampstead. In 1865 he baptized seven Windsor, and six at Upper Gagetown. He performed a marriage Carleton County on 23 May 1850, being only the second Free Christian Baptist to do so. In all he married eleven couples there before his death.

 

Hartt took a keen interest in all the churches in the Conference, and urged the members to remember their duty to live righteous and godly lives. He may not always have been a wise administrator in the trials some churches; yet few doubted his intention to act in their best interests. In a number of cases, he succeeded in bringing peace to churches ~ brethren in difficulty.

 

Hartt did not favour establishing a denominational paper, and, troubled by the way Alexander Taylor* entered the Conference. It is interesting to note that no attempt was made by the "progressive" ministers to exclude those who opposed newer methods in the Conference until Samuel Hartt was dead.

 

Hartt died while labouring in a revival at Upper Brighton, and buried in the old Free Christian Baptist cemetery at Third Tier, Waterville. No minister of the Free Christian Baptist Conference in NB had more influence in the churches or was more widely known. Three of his sons became ministers: John* and Henry*, who eventually joined Primitive Baptists, and Aaron*, who was ordained by the Reformed Baptists.

 

Hartt was a good natural singer and wrote a number of sacred Songs. He may have been the author of the old revival hymn, "The glorious of Zion is spreading far and wide." The present town of Hartland is to have been named in his honour.

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Free Baptist Biographies

Cronkhite, Henry, Elder, Free Christian Baptist in New Brunswick; b c.1785, died 23 Jan. 1847.

Henry Cronkhite, the son of a Loyalist of the same name, was born at or near Southampton. In 1805 he married Abigail Ferro, and by I812 owned property in Southampton, where he kept a store and inn. He professed religion, but was spiritually unreceptive.

 

Cronkhite had heard of Samuel Hartt*, and when Hartt stopped, in on the way to see his new farm in Carleton County, Cronkhite watched him closely to find out what kind of man he was. When Hartt gave thanks to God at the dinner table, Cronkhite broke out in praises to God. He renewed his Christian profession and soon began to preach. To win souls became his chief concern, and he won many. The date of his ordination is not known, but it cannot have been later than 1832, because he was ordained before he went to Nashwaak on 12 January 1833, where he to "proclaim glad tidings of salvation to all men through the saving of Christ." This resulted in a reformation and the organization of a church by Cronkhite on 20 February 1833. This was an open membership church. Some of its members had been baptized by Cronkhite, but other unbaptized at the time. He visited this church often, and baptized number along the Nashwaak River at various times, and added many to the membership. On 4 August 1833 Hartt and Cronkhite ordained J. Weyman* in the parish of Sussex.

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Free Baptist Biographies

Pennington, William E., Elder, Free Christian Baptist in New Brunswick and Maine; born 1804, died 27 Feb. 1884.

Pennington was born in Queensbury .He was converted at the age of twenty-six in the spring of 1830, about the time Samuel Nutt* led a great reformation at Upper Queensbury and organized the

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Free Baptist Biographies - Pennington, William E., Elder

To re-enter his name on the list of ministers. The following year he was at Blissville, and then at Southampton, where he had the care of the churches at Lower Southampton, and then at Eel River. He ministered to the Upper Queensbury church in 1882, where he had been ordained fifty years before. He was at the General Conference held in October 1883. He died at his son's residence in Houlton and is buried not far from Samuel Hartt in the old Free Christian Baptist cemetery at the Third Tier in Waterville, Carleton County. Pennington married only one couple in Carleton County before 1875.

 

Like a number of his fellow preachers, Pennington engaged in commercial activities and did not wear clerical attire. Although some ministers disapproved of this behaviour highly, the fact remains that Pennington had more converts than many of those who found fault with him. Nor did his lifestyle concern the people he ministered to, as was evident during one business recession when he became deeply indebted. At that time, Samuel Hartt visited a number of churches and received more than enough donations to allow Pennington to clear up his obligations. The Conference also held him in high regard, and recorded at his death that probably no other minister among them had baptized more converted in NB. The Conference wrote of him, "He was a true Christian man, as I minister he was abundant in labour, as a member of [the] Conference he was always...ready to do work for God."

 

Pennington did not attend the sessions of the General Conference, which dealt with the exclusion of George W. Orser, whose follower’s associates spoke in the highest terms of Pennington as a Christian minister. The writer once asked some elderly men who adhered to Orser' s views if they had heard of Pennington. They said yes, that he was a god minister, a good preacher, and lived a good life.

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Free Baptist Biographies

Hartt, Aaron, Lic., Free Christian Baptist and Reformed Baptist in New BrunswIck; born 15 Feb. 1841, died 10 Nov. 1924

 

Aaron Hartt was a son of Elder Samuel Hartt* .He was living in Woodstock when he was licensed in 1882. He had been a member of another religious body, but was received into the General Conference and given a license by that body on 12 October 1882. He preached at Woodstock, Jacksonville, Campbell Settlement and Moncton. His license was continued until 1884, when it was withdrawn because of his doctrinal beliefs. He is last mentioned in the 1886 report, when he held meetings in Perth. He joined the Reformed Baptists in 1888, and was ordained by them that year. Hartt died in Massachusetts at the age of eighty-three.

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Ministers and Preachers-New Brunswick Hartt, Henry, Rev., Free Christian Baptist and Primitive Baptist in New Brunswick; born 31 Mar. 1844, died 30 Mar. 1918.

Henry Hartt was the youngest son of Elder Samuel Hartt*, and lived most of his life at Jacksontown, where he owned a farm. His grandfather Samuel Sr* was an Allinite preacher, and his father and two of his brothers were ministers. He joined the Third Tier church at a Conference meeting on 2 April 1864.

 

He preached nearly every year after he received a license from the Second District in 1876. In 1877 he had some reformation at Knowlesville and Windsor, and was granted a General Conference license. He was ordained at Woodstock on 8 October 1879. He spent two seasons on Grand Manan in 1881 and 1889. Before 1883 he is known to have baptized at Seal Cove and Brookville. In 1892 and 1893 he led a revival at California Settlement, where he baptized a considerable number of people and organized a church. This church later became Primitive Baptist.

 

Hartt was present at the last General Conference in Saint John in 1905, but the minutes do not mention if he opposed the denominational change by the Conference. Even if he had done so, the results would not have been different. However, when the Primitive Baptists held their ~ yearly Conference at Bristol nine months later, he was present and named in the press reports as one of that body. Afterwards, even though his name was on the list of United Baptist ministers’ unti11914, he found a spiritual home with the Primitive Baptists, and preached in their churches, as he was able. 

 

In 1915 he spent the summer in Yarmouth County, where he preached at East Kemptvil1e to a church composed largely of former members of the Free Baptist denomination, and in other places. Hartt was remembered .as a respected man who greatly enjoyed being in revival meetings, even when he was not able to preach much himself. He is buried near his father in the Third Tier cemetery at Waterville, Carleton County.

 

Hartt, Rowland, Lic., Free Christian Baptist in New Brunswick. 

 Rowland Hartt lived at Campbell Settlement when he was given a license by that church on 10 December 1881. There is no further account of his ~ preaching, although he continued active in that church for some years.

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Hartt, John, Elder. Primitive Baptist in New Brunswick, Maine and Scotia; born 20 Mar. 1830, died 6 Feb. 1904.

 John Hartt was a son of Elder Samuel Hartt*, one of the most influential Free Christian Baptist elders of his day in NB. He married Clarissa Elizabeth Hammond of Victoria County. He joined the Second Wakefield church in 1854, and was chosen deacon of the church in 1858. A few years later he was in Victoria County, where he gave the Free Christian Baptist minister Alexander Taylor* fifty acres of land in Andover, and helped him in other ways. In 1867 he accompanied Taylor to Riley Brook, where a reformation occurred, but their labour was later overshadowed when Taylor blamed Hartt for giving him poor business advice. On 9 November 1867, less than a year after his father's death, Hartt was dismissed from the Third Tier church at his own request. The reason he left is unknown, but it may have been due to a lack of fellowship with Taylor. Hartt was later ordained, probably in Maine, but certainly not by the Free Christian Baptists. There is also some indication that he was a justice of the peace.

 

In 1878 Hartt attended the yearly meeting of Free Baptist General Conference (the body organized by George w. Orser*, forerunner of the Primitive Baptists) as a visitor, and in January 1879 helped them ordain Alexander Morang*. He then joined Orser's group and became one of their leading ministers. He spent some time in NS, where revival attended his preaching and where he organized churches at East River and Kemptville, and possibly the church at Tusket Falls. While in NS he baptized at Tusket Lakes, East River and Hawthorn.

 

Those who knew Hartt said he was a forceful speaker, who was capable of dealing with any opposition or disturbance that arose when he was preaching. The writer knew some of Hartt's converts as elderly men, and they related that on one occasion he paused while baptizing converts to address some young men whose rude and loud remarks were disturbing the people. Such was the effect of his words, that some of leaders of this group came to him soon afterward to ask his forgiveness. Hartt is buried in the Larlee Creek cemetery in Victoria County.