Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 6.djvu/355

 METHODISM IN PORTSMOUTH.

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��of labor ; and his request was granted. He had charge of the erection of two Conference seminaries, one at North- field (built in 1856 and destroyed by fire in 1862), and the present build- ings at Tilton, and was actively inter- ested in the Prisoners' Aid Association, Temperance Alliance, and Freedman's Aid Society. He was cool and dis- creet, an excellent and safe counsel- or, an able preacher, and an efficient presiding elder. Honored and trusted he became influential in the church, and filled with credit the best appoint- ments in the state, and was a member of the General Conferences of 1848, 1852, and 1864.

Rev. Osmon Oleander Baker, d.d., born in Marlow, N. H., July 20, 1812, died at Concord, N. H., Dec. 20, 187 1, aged fifty-nine. He was edu- cated at Wilbraham academy and Wesleyan university. He was the principal of Newbury seminary, and professor nf the Biblical Institute at Concord. He was licensed as an ex- horter when seventeen years of age ; was presiding elder of Dover district in 1846, and elected bishop by die General Conference held in Boston in 1852. His book on the Discipline is regarded as authority. '' In his gen- eral character he was distinguished for regularity and symmetry. His temperament was even and quiet ; he was possessed of sound judgment and a retentive memory, and combined calmness with firm religious convic- tions. As a teacher he was assiduous, as a preacher he was persuasive in manner, chaste in style, and often- times his administrations were attend- ed with divine power. As a bishop he was impartial and judicious and his administration was marked by a clear understanding of the constitution and laws of the church."

Rev. Daniel M. Rogers was sta- tioned at Portsmouth in 1846-7; transferred to the Erie Conference ; subsequently, in 1872, to the Provi- dence Conference. He sustained an effective relation until 1882, and is now classed as superannuated.

��Rev. Elihu Scott was born in Greensboro' Vt., Dec. n, 1805, joined the New England Conference in June, 1S25 ; was presiding elder, Concord district, in 1845-6, and Dover district, in 1847-8; was a delegate to the General Conference in 1836, 1840, 1844, and 1852. He successfully filled several pastorates with ability, and was a faithful and useful presiding elder. He has sustained a superan nuated relation to the Conference since 1875, but preaches frequently, and is otherwise active in promoting the interest of the church. He is a most estimable man, well preserved and wonderfully vigorous of his age. Possessing a well-balanced mind, he has always been regarded as a wise and prudent counselor, and highly es- teemed for his ability, integrity, and Christian character. At the Confer- ence of 1882 he resigned the office of treasurer of the " Conference trustees," whose funds he had judi- ciously guarded for upward of twenty- five years, and by his fidelity to the trust had commended himself to the confidence of his ministerial associ- ates. The late Jonathan Barker, of Portsmouth, by will bequeathed to the church at home, and the connectional charities of the church at large, the most of the property his provident care had accumulated. The N. H. Conference was the residuary lega- tee, and Mr. Scott, as its treasurer, met me at Portsmouth and closed the estate, of which I was one of the ex- ecutors. Being detained until after the departure of the cars, he walked to his home in Hampton, a distance of twelve miles, without fatigue, al- though upward of seventy years of age. He resides in that town at the present time.

Rev. James Thurston was born at Buxton, Maine, March 12, 1816; joined the Maine Conference in July 1838; was transferred to the N. H. Conference in 1848, and stationed at Portsmouth. He successfully and ably filled several pastorates, and has been presiding elder of Dover district

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