Quakers, Christian Connexion, Hamiltonians..
|
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. page 114 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. Page 82 --- 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 Page
148 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. Page 150
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. Page110 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. Page 111 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.
|