From Centennial History, First Presbyterian Church, Westfield, NY, 1808-1908, pub. April 1910, pp. 24-31, 33, 118-121.
THE PERIOD FROM 1849 TO 1908 INCLUSIVE
The coming of Rev. Reuben Tinker to Westfield in 1849 was the beginning of a new life to this church and society. Fresh from the great missionary fields in the Sandwich Islands toward which so much interest had recently been directed, he was a man to attract unusual attention. The manner of his coming was a part of the day in which he came. He was in Westfield as a candidate three weeks, (how slow of heart this people must have been) entertained at the hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Lester Stone. When the call was extended and accepted, then came the moving. Here Deacon Fay and Deacon Montgomery were as usual, prompt to respond, and with their heavy lumber wagons started for Madison, Ohio, "to move the Minister." The trip took a full week to accomplish their part of the task; Mr. Tinker following with his load and Mrs. Tinker, together with such of the children as did not find a place on the larger loads of furniture, excepting the two older boys, Samuel and Joseph, who drove the cows over this ninety miles of road.
Mr. Tinker was a man of such marked talent, such attractive peculiarities, such lucidity in expression, such quickness in wit and repartee, and beyond all, such depth of Christian feeling that his preaching drew large audiences from the first. It was soon evident that the brick church, which had been built but a little more than twelve years, was quite inadequate for the demands of the congregation, and after due consideration, the church building was enlarged by an extension of twenty feet, at the northern end, giving a commodious vestibule with a prayer room above, surmounted by a large belfrey.
Mr. Tinker was fond of music, and through his encouragement, a new organ was obtained. This was a decided innovation, but the organ was soon accepted with glad acclaim, even by the few who were fearful that it would secularize the sanctuary.
The music during much of Mr. Tinker's time, was under the direction of Mr. Elias S. Barger who as a singer was as famous as was the noted divine in pulpit oratory. Those who heard Mr. Barger sing, cannot forget that superb tenor voice. Mr. Tinker, so recently from the mission field, called out interest and enthusiasm for all mission work. There were lectures on the mission work in the Islands that drew crowded houses. The ladies had sewing societies where supplies for the families of missionaries were made up. This was before the advent of the sewing machine, and all garments were made by hand work. The collections taken for missions were such as the church had never known before. The Sunday school, as well as the congregation was in the missionary work, and the spirit of missions and zeal for the cause was manifest on every side.
Mr. Tinker was an indefatigable worker in the outskirts of the town. His diary shows frequent visits, accompanied by preaching services, at Elm Flats; at the Leffingwell school house; at School District No. 2, the site of the present German Church, at the Johnston school house, on the Main Road, one mile west; on the Lake Road, probably the Bourne district, besides the great number of calls that come to a distinguished and attractive speaker. This work accounts in a way, for the influential position which the church held. It was the center of religious activity, but to the great grief of the pastor, the conversions were not as he had hoped. They came later. The work was by no means in vain.
In his diary is found, several times repeated, the entry, "Writing sermons for the Sewing Society." Evidently he prosecuted the church work through every possible channel.
The church prayer meetings were frequently held in his study, and often mention is also made of these meetings being held at various homes. The society paid its pastor $700 a year; and a donation was also a part of the compensation. Whether these donations were a source of profit, may be questioned. But in the later years of his pastorate there was considerable money contributed, as well as what was designated "substantials."
The wedding fees were moderate as compared with present standards. For 21 weddings in one year it is noted that $60 was received. The largest fee being $6.00.
In those days it was necessary for the minister to keep a horse. Long journeys were made by horse and stage. The "Belle" and the "Diamond" are mentioned as the steamboats taken to go eastward to Dunkirk or Buffalo; and westward to Erie or as far west as Painesville. These small steamers, and the manner which they rolled and tumbled, is yet historic in many families. In 1852 the railroad was completed, and after that the entry is made: went to Dunkirk or to Buffalo "on the cars;" and some visitors came "on the cars."
In these years the Presbyterian Boards and the other benevolent objects were presented to the churches by agents sent out by the main office. In 1852, the pastor preached in his own pulpit seventy-five times; he preached in other pulpits, by special invitations, in many instances not on Sundays, forty-two times. Other ministers preached in his pulpit fifty-three times, generally on Sunday. The present church goer, who shrugs a shoulder when occasionally some one other than the pastor is in the pulpit, or turns back at the door if an exchange is made, should make a note as to those good old times, when the congregation, which came for the strongest of spiritual food, endured the numberless weak men sent out by the boards, took it patiently, as a matter of course. However, many representatives of the boards were strong and eloquent men and were everywhere welcomed.
In these years church discipline was an active agency. The good deacons were watchful of the flock to an extent not in practice now. Did a member neglect church attendance and particularly communion, a call was made by one of the elders or deacons, and if that did not suffice, the careless member was called before the Session. In case of flagrant transgressions, when there was not shown sincere repentance and promise of a better life, the member was expelled. When the entry was made in the records showing the member to have been expelled, good Deacon Couch would add, "and may God have mercy upon your soul." In one entry we read. "This paper is therefore to declare the three above named, to all human appearance are irreclaimable, and are now cut off from this church, and make public the principle fact, that having brought forth briars and thorns, and seemed even nigh unto cursing, they have afforded painful evidence that their end is to be burned, according to Heb. 6-8th, and their blood be upon their own heads."
.................About this time (1848) the whole territory of the Society was divided into sections by the Session, and visitors for the different districts appointed to call, converse and pray with the members of the church. To show some of those to whom work in that day was assigned, we find the Allen Wright District and Elm Flats, to Lester Stone and Sextus Hungerford; Barcelona and Hawley District to Daniel C. Northrop and Stephen Macomber; Durand and Northrop District, to J. Whipple and John Couch; No. 1 Center District, to Hiram Couch, Jonathan Harmon, Hugh Cochrane and Paul Persons.
Mr. Tinker seems to have kept his officers busy looking after the work. In the following year, 1849, a committee of elders was appointed to canvass the Society and ascertain how many families had and how many families did not have family prayers.
.....................In 1853 Mr. Tinker was afflicted with a swelling of the left leg, and in November of that year he went to Boston for medical advice and treatment. There was great anxiety throughout the Society and town.
In April the pastor returned, having suffered the amputation of his leg. He addressed himself bravely to the work. His first sermon after his return was from the text, "If thy foot offend thee cut it off." There was no abatement of the true Tinker spirit. Although greatly reduced in strength he again stood in his pulpit. A revolving chair was provided for him, but he was not content to sit and preach, and so, standing on one foot, he delivered his God-given message with great force and spirit. This continued with occasional interruptions caused by failing strength through the summer and into the fall. Sunday, October 1st, communion services were held. Five persons were admitted to membership and three infants were baptized. Mr. Tinker was assisted in this service by Rev. Timothy Stillman of Dunkirk. The Session records kept by the pastor, were written up in full, including this date. October 26, 1854, the Rev. Reuben Tinker, who had given the church a name known far and near, a pastor idolized by his people, a preacher of great power, passed away at the age of 55 years.
The church had often had the benefit of the services of Rev. William Coleman, a Colporter, who had long been a resident of Westfield. He was of much assistance when a minister was needed, and extended his good offices at this time.
In this same year, 1854, Rev. Levi A. Skinner, Lancaster, N. Y., who had resigned his pastorate on account of ill health, came to Westfield. He had been a frequent visitor in the place for years, his sister being the wife of Elder Sextus H. Hungerford.
The Sessional records show very little between death of Mr. Tinker in October, 1854, and January of 1855. January 7th, the communion services were held, Rev. Mr. Coleman and Rev. Mr. Skinner officiating.
The next communion was held April 8th, Rev. Anson Gleason of the Cattaraugus Mission officiating. "Father Gleason," was the familiar and affectionate term by which he was best known.
The preparatory lecture was of great interest; and at the communion service it was evident that marked awakening was upon the church. Father Gleason was invited to remain with the church, which he did. He began holding daily meetings, and was assisted by Rev. Samuel Orton who had been frequently invited on special occasions. Rev. Mr. Skinner was also active in this work.
Father Gleason led everything. There were meetings in the various neighborhoods. At the joint district on the Mayville Road, where Deacon Stone had long held a Sunday School; at Deaconville, the circle of homes comprising Deacons Montgomery, Fay and Hall; at private houses in other portions of the town, until the field was well taken in hand. Father Gleason continually said: "Brother Tinker sowed the seed; I am simply getting in the harvest." His kindly, forceful ways, his grand personality, his persuasive voice, and that soul-stirring hymn which was his favorite, "Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing," which he sang with the greatest zest, carried everything before him. The very air was full of the gospel message.
........................In June, 1858, a committee consisting of John G. Hinckley, George W. Patterson, Elias S. Barger, and L. A. Skinner was appointed to raise money to erect a suitable monument to the memory of Rev. Reuben Tinker. The work was promptly attended to and a handsome shaft erected in our cemetery, but Mr. Tinker's most enduring monument is in the homes of those who were brought to the better life through his Godly ministrations.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF REV. REUBEN TINKER
Rev. Reuben Tinker was born in Chester, Mass., August 6, 1799, and enjoyed the ordinary privileges of a New England common school. His father was a farmer, but the son not being physically strong, was put into a store in Chester where he was employed as a clerk for four years and a half. He then resigned in order to get a better education, and attended the academy at Westfield, Mass., remaining in the school only a single term. He then entered a store in Westfield, serving as bookkeeper and accountant a little over a year, during which time he was converted. He began the study of Latin, being impelled by a desire to preach the gospel, and for several months studied Latin in time when the store books did not require his attention. His progress was too slow, and he resigned and went to Amherst for better school privileges, walking all the way--fifty miles--to save money for schooling, and entered a preparatory school. In 1823 he was prepared to enter college, and was graduated therefrom in 1827. He taught school, worked at bookkeeping a few weeks at a time, acted as amanuensis when he had the opportunity; swept the college hall and rang the college bell, by doing which he earned the means to pay his way through college. He entered Auburn Seminary in the fall of 1827, and finished his theological course in three years.
All through his college and seminary life he had kept in view the object of becoming a missionary to foreign lands, and when he was ready--in 1830--he was sent by the American Board to the Sandwich Islands, sailing from New Bedford, December 28th, with his wife to whom he had been married November I4th, previously. Their vessel reached Honolulu June 5, 1831. In 1838 he severed his connection with the Board, but remained on the Islands until October, 1840, when he sailed for home, arriving in May, 1841, with his wife and six children, one of whom was born during the long passage. They went to Madison, Ohio, where his wife's father, Nathan Wood, was then living. He preached four years in Madison "to the great acceptance and profit of the people there," finally accepting a call from the First Presbyterian Church in Westfield. He was installed as pastor in September, 1845, and continued to labor there until his death, October 26, 1854.
During his pastorate his ministry was successful in every way, and his biographer, Dr. Thompson, says that the Westfield church "from being small and feeble became large and strong; out of Buffalo the largest and strongest, and incomparably the most influential, within the bounds of the presbytery.["] In the pulpit he was somewhat odd in manner and quaint in expression, yet he was a very attractive and effective preacher, delighting his audience while making his sincerity and earnestness felt by every heart. He was really eloquent, and at the same time original, weighty and impressive, in the highest degree. At presbyterial meetings he spoke very little, but always tersely and directly to the point, so that he was a power in the councils of the church. Members of the presbytery at the same time said that when Brother Tinker wanted anything done it was always done. Singularly free from guile he could always carry his point by demonstrating the need and the Christianity of it. The man who could cheer himself up by singing "Windham" when great obstacles faced him, could always find the way out when presbyterial troubles and problems were in need of solution. As a sermonizer he was always logical, pointed and attractive, holding the close attention of his hearers, though not an orator in the accepted meaning of the term. He always had the loving support of the officers of the church, the membership, and indeed the whole congregation which was large and steadily growing till his death, which was hastened by the necessary amputation of one leg, which was diseased and was operated upon in a Boston hospital. After his return he preached a characteristic sermon from the text, "If thy foot offend thee, cut it off." It was a discourse of great power, and I may add, full of Tinkerisms. In the meetings of presbytery, Mr. Tinker's gift of seeing all sides of a question was of great assistance. His colleagues were accustomed to say that his name should not have been Tinker, but "Thinker."
A story is told of him that on one occasion he occupied the pulpit of the First Church in Erie, Pa. On Monday morning the sermons of Sunday were a general subject of conversation when friends met. At a furnace where a large number of men were employed, all had something to say of the preacher and the sermon. At length a patternmaker, a veteran among them, ended the discussion by saying: "Shopmates, when God made that man he broke up the pattern."
Mr. Tinker had seven children, the first five of whom were born on the Sandwich Islands, and one, Abbie Marina, on the voyage home. She afterward became the wife of the Rev. Henry Purdon and was beloved by all. The youngest, Elizabeth, a most gifted and charming woman, a successful teacher, died just when life was at its brightest. All the children inherited unusual ability from both parents, associated with Tinkerisms, which made them stand out prominently among people and endeared them to everyone.
by D. A. A. NICHOLS.
For more information on Reuben Tinker from a descendant click here.