History of Swansea, Massachusetts, 1667-1917; - citizen hylbom blog

114 History of Swansea
removed to Swansea, in the year 1843, to take the pastoral care
of this church. At the end of five years he accepted a call to
Providence, where he remained until 1850, when he returned
to this place, and supplied the pulpit to the close of the year
1851. He died in New York in 1866, at the age of seventy-two
years.
The Sunday-school was organized in the early part of Mr.
Thompson 's ministry, probably in the spring of 1844. In that
year, and for the gratification of the members of the infant
organization, who marched in procession from the church to
the grove, each wearing a red ribbon as a badge, was instituted
the "clambake," still recurring annually on the last
Wednesday of August.
In former times this church was known as a mother of
churches; in later years a large proportion of its young
members have made their homes in neighboring cities, and in
this way it has helped to increase the strength of many congregations.
More than twenty of its members have been
ministers.
The first deacon of the church, as has been stated, was
Isaac Mason. Without recording the names of all who have
served in that position, it may be mentioned that within the
present century five have borne the name of Bufifinton,—three
brothers, Gardner, John and Stephen, Martin, a son of John,
and Benjamin T., a son of Stephen. The last-mentioned
father and son still survive, although Gardner, the older of the
two brothers of Deacon Stephen Bufiinton, began to officiate
three-fourths of a century ago.
It is of interest to notice in the early records how frequently
occur the names of members which, though borne by
remote descendants, still occupy a place on the list.
The reHgious services on Sundays in the olden times
consisted of a meeting for preaching at eleven o'clock, and a
meeting for prayer and exhortation at four o'clock. The
fashion of preaching but one sermon on Sunday, so common
now but generally regarded as an innovation, has with
occasional exceptions long prevailed in this church, perhaps
from the time of the ordination of the first pastor. There is
a tradition, on which the church records throw no light, that
at first singing was excluded from the services. It is certain
that there was opposition to the use of musical notes at the
time they were introduced by singers. When the "service of
song in the house of the Lord" came to be regarded as an
important part of public worship, it was scarcely possible to
provide books for the congregation. From what was perhaps
the only hymn-book in the parish the minister read a hymn;