My Genealogy Hound

REV. ARTHUR C. TOWNSEND, pastor of the Congregational church of Westhampton, was born in Hanover, Oxford County, Me., October 8, 1859. His early life was spent on his father’s farm in Mars Hill, Aroostook County, Me., his father, Seward P. Townsend, having become a pioneer in that portion of the State while the subject of this sketch was an infant. The Rev. Mr. Townsend’s father now resides with his eldest son in Easton, Me. He married Harriet N. Pierce, of New Gloucester, Me., who bore him four children, namely: Herbert L., of Easton, Me.; Orlando C., of Boston; Arthur C.; and Emily A., who died in September, 1881, at the age of nineteen years. Her death was followed by that of her mother in December of the same year.

The Rev. Arthur C. Townsend, like many of our men who occupy places of distinction in the mercantile, political, scientific, or literary world, was bred to agricultural pursuits. Until he attained his majority, he remained with his parents, assisting in the various employments of the farm, while gleaning the elements of his education at the district schools and in select schools near by. At the age of seventeen he began to teach in the schools of his own town.

At the age of twenty-one Mr. Townsend left home, and went to Lewiston, Me., where he found employment in a woollen-mill. After a year spent in Oxford County, partly in this work and partly in a saw-mill, he wisely decided to invest his modest savings in gratifying a long-cherished desire for further study, and entered the middle class of the Maine Central Institute, in the village of Pittsfield, Me. Here he studied three terms of the four that made the school year. The following autumn, after a summer spent in an unsuccessful attempt to replenish his depleted funds by canvassing for books, finding himself unable to return to Pittsfield, a way was providentially opened for him to enter Nichols Latin School in Lewiston. Here he studied during his senior year, receiving at his graduation the first prize for excellence of scholarship. After a summer spent as clerk at a seashore hotel Mr. Townsend entered Bates College in Lewiston. While there he was prominent in its literary circles, being for one year literary editor of the Bates Student, the college magazine. During his Junior and Senior years and a portion of the following year he taught mathematics in Nichols Latin School. At graduation he received first honor in the department of mathematics.

While attending school Mr. Townsend became a professed Christian, and united with the Main Street Free Baptist Church in Lewiston. After graduation he began to study for the Christian ministry in Cobb Divinity School, a department of Bates College. During the following summer he supplied the vacant pulpit of the First Congregational Church of Falmouth, Me. From there in the fall he went to Yale University, where he studied two years, graduating in 1891. The intervening summer he spent in home mission work at East Madison, Me. During his Senior year he received a call to his present pastorate; and, having already transferred his church membership to the Center Church (Congregational) of New Haven, he accepted, and was ordained in Westhampton, June 10, 1891, becoming the successor of many eminent men, who labored so faithfully to advance the moral and spiritual interests of Hampshire County, sowing seed from which abundant harvests have been reaped.

The Congregational church at Westhampton is one of the oldest organizations of the town, which was incorporated in 1778. The church is nearly as old, its centennial having been celebrated September 3, 1879. On August 11, 1779, prior to the formation of a religious society, the pioneer settlers of the town, mostly men who had been reared in the Congregational faith, extended a call to the Rev. Enoch Hale, grandfather of the Rev. Dr. Edward Everett Hale, of Boston, to become their pastor. He heeded the call, and on September 29, 1779, was ordained pastor, the church having been organized in the interim. He died in this town, January 14, 1837; but his influence for good is still felt in the community. The next pastor, Horace B. Chapin, was installed July 8, 1829, and dismissed February 29, 1837. He was followed by the Rev. Amos Drury, who was installed June 28, 1837, and died July 22, 1841. His successor, the Rev. David Coggin, was installed May 11, 1842, and died April 28, 1852. The Rev. Andrew Bigelow was installed March 2, 1854, and was dismissed April 18, 1855. On November 20, 1856, the Rev. Roswell Foster was installed, and on December 29, 1858, was dismissed. The Rev. Edwin C. Bissell was ordained September 21, 1859, and dismissed May 10, 1864. The Rev. Thomas Allender was installed June 21, 1866, and died September 17, 1869. He was succeeded by the Rev. F. P. Barnard, who was installed June 30, 1870, and dismissed July 1, 1873. The Rev. Joseph Lanman was installed June 3, 1874, and dismissed September 11, 1876. The Rev. Edward S. Palmer was installed December 7, 1876, and dismissed April 20, 1881. He was succeeded by the Rev. William C. Seofield, who was acting pastor of the church from October 1, 1881, until December 7, 1884. The Rev. A. E. Todd, the next pastor of the church, ministered to the congregation from January 1, 1886, until January 7, 1891, being then succeeded by its present beloved pastor, the Rev. Arthur C. Townsend. This church is in a most flourishing condition, having now a membership of two hundred and forty souls. Its clerk is Frederick H. Judd; and its deacons, William I. Edwards, A. D. Montague, A. G. Jewett, and F. D. Bridgman; while the church committee consists of the pastor and deacons, with R. W. Clapp, Theophilus Edwards, Mrs. E. W. Kingsley, and Mrs. A. C. Shepherd. The treasurer is Deacon Alfred D. Montague.

Before the erection of any building for religious worship, divine service was held alternate Sundays at the home of Captain Azariah Lyman, in the south part of the town, and at Nathan Clark’s house, in the northern section. The first church was completed in 1789, although services were held in it for some four years prior to that date. In 1816, the church becoming dilapidated and not sufficiently large to accommodate its increasing numbers, it was removed; and a larger and more substantial edifice was reared, it being one of the finest church buildings in Western Massachusetts. On February 17, 1829, it was destroyed by fire; and on the 29th of December, the same year, the present handsome structure was dedicated to the worship of God. In 1883 the church was entirely remodelled and refurnished, and a conveniently arranged kitchen and dining-room were added; and since that time it has been kept in excellent repair.

On December 15, 1891, Mr. Townsend was united in marriage to Miss Ina F. Cobb, who had been a classmate with him in Bates College, and who was the daughter of Thomas S. Cobb, of Poland, Me., where she was born January 7, 1865. Their union has been hallowed by the birth of two sons.