Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/196

 170 THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

had been occasional preaching here most of the time ; and from the records it appears that at least two persons had been invited to setde ; but the first minister actually installed was Mr. Jonathan Livermore, who was ordained December 14, 1763, on the same day a church was formed consisting of eight male members. Mr. Livermore was minister thirteen years and resigned. It may be mentioned as an interesting fact, that there were only two families in town during his ministry whose children were not baptised. The first meeting- house was built in 1752. It was used twenty-one years and then taken down. The second one was built during the ministry of Mr. Livermore. They com- menced raising it in September, 1773. Such things were conducted differently then from what they are now, and was considered a work of two days. People came from distant towns to. see the spectacle, and great preparations were made. A committee of the town appointed the rais- ers, and ample provisions were made to entertain strangers. The morn- ing dawned amid all the glories of that beautiful season, and people from all parts came in great numbers. Some came on foot, and some prac- tised the method, unknown to modern days, of riding and tying ; others were on horseback with their wives or sisters behind on a pillion. It was an occasion of universal expectation. The timbers were all prepared, the workmen ready, and the master-workman full of the dignity of his office, issuing his orders to his aids. All went on prosperously. The good cheer, the excitement of the work, the crowd of spectators, men looking on, women telling the news, boys playing their various games, all made it a scene of general rejoicing. The sides of the house were already up, and also a part of the roof at the east end of the building. One of the raisers from Lyndeborough, Capt. Bradford, had brought over his wife, whom he left on account of illness at the house of Mr. Baldwin, while he went on to take part in the work. Having to pass along the centre of the building, he observed that the middle beam, extending across the centre of the church, was not properly supported. A post was under the centre, but it was worm-eaten and was already beginning to yield and give way under the pressure. In raising the middle part of the roof, the weight of the work- men would come on this beam, which was evidently not strong enough to bear up the timbers and men. He immediately ascended to the roof and informed the master-workman, who, being made over confident by the success thus far, replied that if he was afraid he could go home, that they wanted no cowards there. Indignant at the reply Capt. Bradford went down and started off for his wife, with the intention of returning home. Before reaching Mr. Baldwins he looked back, and saw the men swarming upon the unsupported beam. They were raising up with much exertion and shouts of direction and encour- agement the beams and rafters, when suddenly he saw the frame already erected tremble, the men shrink back aghast ; the building seemed to rock for a moment to and fro, then all, timbers and tools and men, rushed down together in one mingled mass. The crash was so loud as to be heard nearly a mile. For a moment all was silent, then the air was filled with groans, and out-cries, and shrieks of terror. Of the fifty-three men who fell with the frame, three were instantly killed, two died shortly afterward, and most of the others were more or less mangled and wounded. To understand the impression that the event made at the time, it must be remembered that the whole population of the town was less than five hundred. At a fast which was kept, Mr. Livermore preached from the text, which then must have been peculiarly impressive : " Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." The event furnished a subject for one of the native poets, and the following memorable stanzas were familiarly sung by the young ladies of the town, as they carded and spun by their firesides : —

�� �