Life and influence of Rev. Benjamin Randall

Front matter

Life <™% Influence

cif ifie

Frederick LWilev

Foreword

The first Free Baptist church I ever saw soon became my religious home; and membership in the body of Christians that church represented has been continuous to the present time, during more than sixty years. Mine was a case of " falling in love at first sight." But, like all properly placed affection, that love has deepened and strengthened with the passing years.

While yet in the days of my youth, I began to investigate the conditions that were claimed in justification of our existence as a separate religious body. That interested me in the founder of this body, Benjamin Randall. As I studied the character, labors, and usefulness of this man, I was thrilled with an inexpressible admiration for him.

I eagerly devoured all available printed literature about Mr. Randall and his times.

Foreword

I visited New Durham, the place of his residence during his ministry, while yet unpublished facts and authentic traditions about him were fresh in the memory of the oldest people of the locality. Some of these were questioned. I had access to records written by Mr. Randall, which, if published, would make two or three respectable volumes. These were laid under tribute.

The Rev. Hosea Quinby, D. D., had it in his heart to publish a biography of Benjamin Randall; but, in 1878, died with only a mass of scrappy material to represent his purpose. This was placed in my hands for discretionary use. A careful reading of this collection discovered but few facts usable for this work that I had not already gleaned from other sources. Some of these facts have been assimilated.

Up to this stage of my search for facts respecting Mr. Randall, some of my experiences — though lacking in some points of analogy — have reminded me of Carlyle's quest for Cromwell. For more than two

Foreword

hundred years, facts about the religious life and wise statesmanship of Oliver Cromwell were buried in comparative obscurity. " Thomas Carlyle, with his passion for men who have done something, divined the truth about Cromwell, even before he began his search among the rubbish-heaps of papers and pamphlets relating to his period of the commonwealth, which had been dumped in a confused mass in the British Museum."

Among the books that have been helpful for reference, especially in writing the section on " Posthumous Influence/' grateful mention would be made of the "Life of Benjamin Randall/' by Rev. John Buzzell; " History of the Freewill Baptists/' by Isaac D. Stewart, D. D. ; " Centennial Record/' by the Free Baptist Printing Establishment; the " Free Baptist Cyclopedia/' by Rev. G. A. Burgess, A. M., and John T. Ward, D. D. ; " Missionary Reminiscences/' by Mrs. M. M. H. Hills; and the " History of the Free Baptist Woman's Missionary Society," by Mrs. Mary A. Davis.

Foreword

As all of these works are now out of print, it seems fitting that a brief biography of Benjamin Randall and a summary of his posthumous influence be given to the current public. " Men who have understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do," have conceded the demand for such a work. To have the assurance of the same men that the humble manuscript submitted holds the supply of this demand is very gratifying to the writer.

If the finished product shall to any extent serve as an interpreter of Benjamin Randall and our people to the world — if to any extent it shall strengthen the bond of union between our people and the larger Baptist body, so that the relation, now sympathetic and cooperative, may, in the near future, become organic — these results will be in line with the desire, prayer, and hope of the author.

Frederick L. Wiley.

Laconia, N. H., October, 1914.

Part I The Life-story Chapter Page

I. Ancestry and Early Years,

1749-1770 3

II. Through Darkness to Light,

1770 12

III. Flattering Business Pros-

IV. Patriotism and Christian

V. Discovers Himself a Baptist,

1776 36

VI. From Reading Sermons to

Preaching, 1777 43

VII. Persecution Fearlessly

VIII. Randall Moves to New Durham, 1778 57

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

IX. Called to Answer as to Doctrine, 1778-1779 63

X. If Wisdom and Comity had Dominated " Perhaps They Wouldn't " 72

XL The Ordination of Mr. Randall, 1780 78

XII. New Durham Church

XIII. The Scriptures Opened,

1780 87

XIV. Evangelistic Work in New

Hampshire a n d Maine, 1780-1781 ..... 92

XV. Quarterly Meeting Organized, 1782-1783. .......... 99

XVI. Getting Together — Christian Comity, 1784- 1786. . . 110

XVIII. Through Reverses to Victory, 1791... 133

XIX. Higher Organization, 1792. 140

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

XX. Missionary Journey

Through Forests, 1792. 149

XXL Induction to the Ministry, 1792 155

XXII. Church Musi c — Congregation versus Choir, 1793 •• 161

XXIII. On the Trail of the Pio-

XXIV. Yearly Meeting — Attend-

ance — Entertainment, 1798 173

XXV. The Transit of the Century, 1 799-1801 181

XXVI. Denominational Name,

1804-1805 189

XXVII. Faint Yet Pursuing, 1807. 198

XXVIII. From Grace to Glory, 1808. 209

XXIX. Mr. Randall in Pen-picture 220

XXX. The Ministry under Randall 226

Contents

Part II Posthumous Influence Chapter Page

XXXI. The Larger Growth of a Founder's Thoughts 241

XXXII. Church Government... 244

XXXIIL Attitude as to Intoxicants 248

XXXIV. Home Missions 254

XXXV. Foreign Missions 257

XXXVI. Educational Work 262

XXXVIL Remembering Those in Bonds as Bound with Them 267

XXXVIII. Work Among the Freed-

men 274

XXXIX. Our Women in Cooperative Work. 282

XL. Our Young People's

Movement 287

XLI. Our Special Mission 292

XLII. The Spirit of Randall as Illustratfd by Last General Conference. . 299

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Benjamin Randall Frontispiece

Rev. John Buzzell 156

The Randall Monument 219.

Rev. Enoch Place 244

Rev. John Colby 254

Educational Pioneers 262

Block and Gavel 290

Joseph W. Mauck, LL. D 300

Alfred Williams Anthony, D.D 304

PART I THE LIFE-STORY

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ANCESTRY AND EARLY YEARS 1749-1770

AS with the heavenly bodies, so with some earthly bodies, in contemplation of them, we may " think God's thoughts after him." As with the heavenly bodies, so with Benjamin Randall. In his sterling ancestry, his eventful career, and his glorious ascension to the life more abundant, we have a clear illustration of the design, the providence, and the grace of God.

New Castle, New Hampshire, is the place where Benjamin Randall first saw the light of this world. New Castle is a rock-bound island, with an area of about seven hundred acres. It is so near Portsmouth as to be connected to the city by a bridge, and yet is mostly open to the broad ocean. It has deepwater surroundings, thus allowing the easy and safe approach of the largest craft In the early times New Castle, then called Great Island, held the highest rank in the colony. Its position attracted settlers as early as 1623. This island was for years not only the general mart of business for the infant colony, but the residence of the colonial governors and other leading men, the place where courts were held and justice dispensed.

William Randall, born about 16 10, is the only immigrant to America by the name of Randall of whom we have any knowledge. He came to Rhode Island in 1636, but was at Marshfield, Massachusetts, in 1637. In 1640 we find him settled in Scituate, Massachusetts, where, by his wife Elizabeth, he had Sarah, born in 1640; Joseph, March, 1642; Hannah, March, 1644; William, December, 1647; John, April, 1650; and Benjamin, 1659.

Joseph Randall, second, married, in 1673, Hannah, daughter of William Macumber, and had Elizabeth and Sarah, twins, born in 1673; Joseph, 1675; Hannah, 1677;

Sarah, 1680; Margaret, 1683; Mary, 1684; and Benjamin, 1688.

The last named, Benjamin Randall, married Mary, daughter of Hon. Shadrach Walton, of New Castle, New Hampshire, where he settled. Respecting the children of this pair we know nothing, except that one was a son, who was also named Benjamin. This son Benjamin was born about 1712, and married Margaret, daughter of Capt. Benjamin Mordantt, sometimes called Mordan. This Benjamin Randall of 1712 was known as Captain Randall.

Benjamin Randall and Margaret Mordantt Randall had nine children, of whom Benjamin, the subject of this story, was the oldest.

Respecting social, military, and political rank, at his birth, February 7, 1749, Benjamin, later called Elder Randall, entered into an honorable heritage. His parents were people of intelligence, education, and refinement. His Grandfather Walton was of good English stock. As a military man, this

Walton was ensign in 1691, major at the at* tack of Fort Royal in 1707, and colonel of the Rangers raised the next winter for guarding the New Hampshire coast in the Indian troubles of the times. As a civilian, he was judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1635-1638; judge of the Supreme Court in 1638- 1639, an d again in 1 716-1737. He received the commission of Councillor to the Governor in 1716, which position he probably held during the remainder of his life, for he stood as senior councillor in 1733.

Others of note descended from the same stock, some of whom contend that the line passing through the Walton vein can be traced back through several distinguished nobles to a monarch. Mr. Randall would often talk facetiously to his children of their noble blood as a motive for their consistent behavior.

In early youth Benjamin enjoyed such means for mental culture as were afforded by the public schools, from which, with his own efforts and parental aid, he obtained a

"good commercial education." This was supplemented by general reading, close study, personal experience, and observation, so that he became, in an all-round sense, well educated for his age and times.

As soon as he began to form definite notions of the divine character and requirements, his mind took a decidedly religious turn. He says :

At the age of five I seldom closed my eyes in sleep at night without prayer to God in such language as would best express the feelings of my heart. In those exercises I would often be affected to tears. From that time I practised secret prayer and was always led to pray on my knees or prostrate on my face, though I had never seen any one pray in these attitudes, or heard that any particular attitude had been enjoined as a duty.

In the church of his parents, both in family and public devotions, prayer was offered in the standing attitude. From his earliest remembrance, Benjamin also enjoyed sanctuary services. With him, church attendance was never regarded as an irksome duty, but always as a glad privilege.

Benjamin's father was a sea-captain, and a portion of his youth was spent as a cabinboy on board his father's ship. By this experience the circle of his vision was enlarged, and his acquaintance with different localities and different people was extended. His desire for self-improvement led him to turn all such opportunities to good account.

But a seafaring life included conditions that were not congenial to his refined and sensitive nature. He did not enjoy the society to which he was restricted on shipboard. Indeed, he was constantly shocked by the coarse jokes and profanity of the sailors. As his father safeguarded him as much as possible, and as he kept up his daily Bible readings and devotions, the youth was uncontaminated. Yet he longed for conditions that would enable him to choose his social, intellectual, and religious environment.

When Benjamin was nearly eighteen years of age, in response to his request, his father apprenticed him to a sailmaker in Portsmouth, with whom he remained till he was twenty-one. In connection with this apprenticeship, after strict fidelity to business, which he rendered, he found opportunities for study which he improved.

But, by an accidental occurrence, as it might seem to a casual observer, young Randall took up a branch of secular business for which his practical knowledge of sailmaking had measurably prepared him, and which did not depend for its success upon location in a seaboard town. And this is the way it happened :

Awhile previous to his majority, Benjamin's father purchased for him a " dressup " suit from rich, light-colored material, worn by society gentlemen at that time. Attired in this, he attended a social gathering where the chairs had been recently " done over " in dark paint, not yet hard dry. On reaching home Randall found his garments irregularly mottled. He did not want his father to know of the accident. But how could he conceal it?

In this dilemma he called his own resourcefulness to the rescue. Having at hand all needed furnishings, and having learned their use at sea and at sailmaking, he retired to his room, where " positively no admittance " was to be allowed, and set about the task of changing the leopard's spots. Fortunately, the goods were reversible. He ripped the garments apart and turned them with such complete success in workmanship that no visible traces of his accident remained. Thus commenced his efforts as a tailor, at which trade he became proficient, and to which he turned in after years, as Paul turned to his tent-making, when necessity was upon him, for honorable support.

All who impartially read the religious history of the eighteenth century, and later, must admit that our country owes much to the parents of Benjamin Randall for giving it such a son, and for training him so strictly

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in the Puritanic system — a system well adapted to bringing the whole person under the restraints of proper discipline, begetting in him the habit of cheerfully submitting to the inevitable and courageously doing obvious duty.

From home care and home culture the youth was enabled to carry into the world those habits ol neatness and order, of industry and uprightness which ever proved invaluable treasures, opening to him doors of acceptable entrance and success, which might have remained closed to others less favored. Thus they laid in him a solid foundation upon which the grace of God built a noble superstructure.

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II Through Darkness To Light I770

FROM early childhood, through youth to manhood, Benjamin Randall had sustained the habit of daily Scripture reading and prayer. His external life had been in strict conformity to the standards of morals held and taught by his ancestral church — " The Standing Order." But soon after passing his majority he entered a religious experience, to him entirely new.

In 1 769- 1 770, George Whitefield made the last of his several evangelistic tours in this country. He arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the twenty-third of September, 1770. But, personally, Mr. Randall was in neither mental nor spiritual condition to give him a cordial welcome. Not that he lacked interest in anything that might, in his opinion, make for public righteousness, but, as judged by the " Standing Order," the cause of religion had suffered somewhat in that vicinity by certain traveling preachers. Mr. Randall's sympathy with the established church, and his natural love of order, roused his antagonism against all preachers except the settled Congregational clergy.

The next day after the arrival of Whitefield, Randall, prompted largely by curiosity, followed the crowd into what was called the " Great Meeting-house," but with the resolution that the preaching of the evangelist should have no effect on him. Thus fortified, he heard Whitefield several times, the last being on Friday before the death of the great evangelist, which occurred on the following Sunday.

A record found in Randall's journal has this : " The next Sabbath, September thirtieth, our minister went to Portsmouth to preach in the Great Meeting-house, taking me with him." Then no bridge connected New Castle with the mainland, hence, the minister needed some one to row him over to Portsmouth that day for his meeting. Randall, being an expert on the water, and very companionable withal, was selected for that purpose. In view of what occurred later, this arrangement seemed providential.

At noon that day, while Randall was conversing with a friend, a mounted herald approached, proclaiming as he rode : " Mr. Whitefield is dead! Died this morning at Newburyport, about six o'clock! " This announcement greatly shocked Mr. Randall. The sermons he had heard from the lips of Mr. Whitefield were passed in review. His mind was quickened, his conscience was aroused. He conceded the truth of those sermons and felt self -condemned that he had allowed prejudice to delay his appreciation so long.

Respecting the announcement of the herald, Randall says :

As I heard this voice, an arrow from the Almighty pierced my heart. Mr. Whitefield was a man of God and I have spoken reproach fully of him. That voice is now silent in death. I would sacrifice anything if I could hear it again. But that cannot be. With what a loss have I met! On reaching home, I took my room to mourn in solitude over my condition. My former religion seemed altogether worthless.

On October fifteenth, while musing on my condition, I fell into the following train of thought : " Once I was company for almost every one, but now for none. I took pleasure in the world, but now there remains nothing of that. All things appear insipid. I, who used to enjoy so much in prayer, now cannot offer one petition." Yet, on second thought, I know I did pray, though I did not enjoy prayer as formerly. While thus musing, Hebrews 9 : 26 came to my mind : " But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." I was in such deep meditation that the words passed without particular notice. They came up the second time, however; then I began to think, What can the passage mean? "But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself"

While meditating upon the text my burden rolled off, leaving me calm and peaceful. As my faith grasped the meaning of the text I gave glory to God. And what a joy filled my soul! I could now see in Jesus Christ a blessed sacrifice for sin, to the full satisfaction of divine justice. How the character of Jesus shone in my soul! For a time I could do nothing but repeat the name of Jesus. Jesus! Jesus!! It seemed to me that if I had a thousand souls I could trust them all in his hands. I saw in him universal love, a universal atonement, a universal call to man, and felt confident that none could ever perish but those who refused to obey.

Then what love I felt for all mankind — longing that they too might share in the fulness which I saw so extensive and so free. What pity flowed into my soul for poor sinners, whom I saw to be in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity.

Now the question may arise as to Randall's piety previous to this awakening under the preaching of Whitefield. Let us see. The habit of daily Bible reading, daily prayer, regular attendance upon church services, and the faithful observance of all means of grace known to him, had been sustained from early childhood, through the years of youth, up to manhood.

In the exuberance of youth he had indulged in a few social pastimes, but none not approved by his parents and family church. Up to Whitefield's visit to Portsmouth, Randall's deportment had been above reproach. Respecting his internal condition, he might have said with Paul : " I have lived in all good conscience before God unto this day." In the anguish of his soul, when struggling for clearer evidence of divine acceptance, he refers to the fact that formerly he " enjoyed so much in prayer." Now, only those who are in right relations to God, enjoy prayer. His mental antagonism to Mr. Whitefield was not occasioned by the doctrines that were preached, but by his prejudice against all traveling preachers.

The experiences of Mr. Randall, though not common, are not unknown to history.

They place him in a class with some other religious leaders. Among representative cases, reference might be made to the decisive hours in the lives of Augustine, Luther, and John Wesley. Of these, the experiences of John Wesley were, in many respects, duplicated by those of Randall.

John Wesley was well born. The piety he learned and imbibed at his mother's knee he carried through educational processes into sacred orders. But, it is more than probable that, with all his early excellences — and he had many — he placed undue emphasis upon good works as a condition of saving grace. One of his biographers, referring to this period, says : " He was narrowly introspective and exclusively bent on saving his own soul."

Wesley's mission to Georgia, though not a total failure, was far from a brilliant success. The Georgian colonists did not take kindly to his methods, and the Indians he had hoped to convert wanted none of his religion. After a brief effort he returned to

England, thoroughly disgusted — with himself. On his voyage home he wrote in his " Journal " : " I, who went to America to convert others, was never converted myself. I am a child of wrath, an heir of hell. ,, Wesley afterward retracted these extreme statements; but they show his mood on returning from his Georgian mission.

But if a prophet had whispered in the ear of John Wesley, he might have said: " Be of good cheer ! It is the divine order that suffering should be the price of usefulness. The Lord would show thee how great things thou must suffer for his name's sake. Only be thou strong and very courageous. Thou shalt yet renew the religious life of thy beloved England. Thy disciples shall yet spread over the same America that witnessed thy humiliation. Thou shalt yet have the world for thy parish. ,,

For a while after Wesley reached England he preached a faith for which he confessed himself to be waiting. But after a few months he got the blessing he sought, and a paragraph quoted from his journal gives the manner of it :

In the evening I went unwillingly to a society (of Moravians) in Aldersgate Street, London, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart, through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust Christ, Christ alone, for my salvation ; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins — even mine — and saved me from the law of sin and death.

Where there is evidence of former piety up to crises such as here described, the most recent psychology regards these sudden transitions from a lower to a higher, a perturbed to a restful, spiritual state, however caused, as incidents to mark the ingress of new truths and new motives otherwise inaccessible. This philosophy seems to have application to both Wesley and Randall.

But our special interest centers in Randall. May we not account for this crisis in his religious experience in a way entirely consistent with a concession to his former piety and God's gracious purposes concerning him? It seems evident that Randall had been pious from his childhood up to this crisis. But it seems quite as evident that his piety had been self-centered, and therefore of a low order. His dominant motive seems to have been to save his own soul and make sure of heaven. If he had died during those years he would doubtless have been saved, as were probably some of the " Pillar Saints" and other ascetics, who never knew till they got to heaven how they failed, because of their narrowness, of a more abundant entrance.

Benjamin Randall was a chosen vessel unto the Lord, to bear his name before the Gentiles and God's Israel. But before he could receive his commission he must be lifted from a lower to a higher plane of Christian life. He must know, as he had never known before, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. He must realize as he had never realized before, its hatefulness in the sight of God. He must have a fuller realization, than he had ever had before, of the sweet peace that follows deliverance from sin, and the ecstatic joy of a heart filled with God's abounding grace.

Some of the processes of this uplift were so agonizing that it is not strange that Randall was at times led to question the genuineness of his former piety. But short of these experiences, Randall could not have stood with God upon the mount. Short of these experiences he could not have had a vision of his future field of labor. Short of these experiences he could not have efficiently filled the interim between the mount of vision and the glory beyond.

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FLATTERING BUSINESS PROSPECTS DECLINED

1 770- 1 775

MR. RANDALL spent the summer of 1 77 1 at his trade, in Marblehead and Salem. He lived a watchful and devoted life, and attended religious services strictly with his own sect. During this time he had an offer which gave flattering prospects of soon making him a man of wealth. This, however, he declined to accept, and for reasons that, at the time, he could neither understand nor explain. In referring to the matter he says : " But since, I have seen that God overruled in the matter, having other and more important work for me in prospect."

Randall returned to New Castle in October, hired a sail-loft, and set up business for himself. On the twenty-eighth day of November he was united in marriage with Miss

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Joanna Oram, youngest daughter of Capt. Robert Oram, of Kittery, Maine. Captain Oram was a native of Topsham, England. In early manhood he migrated to America and landed in the South, but after a brief stay he settled at Kittery, married Joanna Mitchell and, as was the manner of the times, raised up a family of which Joanna, born March 2, 1748, became the wife of Benjamin Randall.

The record Randall made in his "Journal " respecting the good providences of God in the person of his wife, he never had occasion to revise: " I believe she was the gift of God to me, and that no woman was ever better suited to the place in which she was to stand. May God have the praise."

When the newly married pair commenced housekeeping they erected the family altar, which stood till death broke in upon the union.

In the fall of 1772 Mr. Randall called on his pastor and informed him of the desire, on the part of himself and wife, to become members of the church, and received the reply : " Well, Mr. Randall, I am glad you have come to a sense of your duty; I will propound you next Sabbath/ 5 On saying this, the pastor was about to leave the room. But the applicant, having anticipated that he might be examined on his Christian experience and views of religious doctrine, asked for such advice as might seem needful, preparatory to such an important step. To this no answer came. Mr. Randall persisted, however, as he tells us :

After a pause in the conversation I broke the silence and, in short, related to him what the Lord had done for my soul. To this he made no reply, but looked as though he thought it strange. I requested that I might see the covenant and have it explained, that I might be sure that I understood its import. He permitted me to take a copy home for examination. In response to my invitation, he promised to call and interview my wife on the matter. This call he made the next day, staying perhaps an hour, but saying nothing on religious subjects during the time. When rising to leave, he turned to Mrs- Randall and said : " Your husband tells me you have a mind to join the church. I will propound you to-morrow."

Mr. and Mrs. Randall were duly received to membership in the Congregational church at New Castle. But Mr. Randall soon found that he had united with a people whose religious experience was not like his own — a people who neither shared with him his heavenly emotions nor his burning zeal for the salvation of souls. But let him speak for himself :

On better acquaintance, I found that the church had neither order nor discipline. Men of intemperate and corrupt habits were allowed to come each month to the communion without reproof. This discovery, with a view of the condition in which those were who made no pretense to piety, caused me such great distress of mind that at times it seemed as though I could not live. My food became tasteless, and sleep departed from my eyes. By night, when whole families were sleeping, I would walk the streets, stop before their doors, lamenting their condition, and praying God in their behalf.

As opportunity offered, Randall talked with his brethren respecting the importance of a deeper work of grace in the church and efforts for the salvation of those outside. Thus matters continued till the spring of 1774, when Randall felt impelled to go forward in a more open and decided effort.

He conceived the plan of opening meetings in which the people could listen to the reading of printed sermons and exercise their gifts in prayer, exhortation, and singing. This suggestion, when confided to Randall's special sympathizers, received their hearty approval.