Hawley — The Congregational Clergymen.
Extracted from "History of the Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Volume II," by Louis H. Everts, 1879.
The Congregational Clergymen have been as-follows:
Rev. Urbane Hitchcock was born in Hawley in 1782; graduated at Williams in 1806; was ordained to the ministry at Dover, Vt., in 1808.
Rev. Jonas King, D.D., was born in Hawley, July 29, 1792; read the Bible through before he was six years old, and every year thereafter; graduated at Williams College in 1816; studied theology at Andover; was ordained an evangelist in Charlestown in 1819; went as a missionary with Pliny Fisk
to Jerusalem in 1823; and in 1828 became a missionary to Greece, where his labors in behalf of the struggling Greeks attracted much attention, and resulted in promoting the welfare of the oppressed inhabitants.
Rev. Pindar Field was born in Sunderland, May 1, 1794, but removed to Hawley the following year; studied at Williams, but graduated at Amherst in 1822, and was licensed December, 1824.
Rev. Isaac Oakes was born in Hadley, June 10, 1795; graduated at Williams in 1820, and was ordained at Salem in 1823.
Rev. Thomas H. Wood was born at Bozrah, Conn., in 1772, but removed with his parents to Hawley in 1775; graduated at Williams in 1779, and was licensed to preach in 1803; he died in 1846.
Rev. Marshall L. Farnsworth was born in Hawley in 1799; graduated at Union in 1825, and was soon thereafter licensed. He died at Danby, N. Y., in 1838.
Rev. Oliver A. Taylor was born at Yarmouth, Aug. 18, 1801, but became a resident of Hawley when he was two years old. His parents were poor and unable to educate their children, but gave them the example of devout, consistent lives, and encouraged them in their efforts to educate themselves, with what success is shown by the four ministers the family produced. At the age of twenty, Oliver started to walk five hundred miles to enter Allegheny College, Pa., but graduated at Union in 1825; studied at Andover, completing in 1829, and was licensed in April that year. He became very learned, and died in 1851.
Rev. Timothy A. Taylor was born in Hawley, Sept. 7, 1809; graduated at Amherst 1835, and at Andover in 1838.
Rev. Rufus Taylor was born in Hawley, March 24, 1811; graduated at Amherst in 1837, and at Princeton in 1840.
Rev. Jeremiah Taylor, the fourth brother of this noted family, was born at Hawley, June 11, 1817; graduated at Amherst in 1843, and at Princeton in 1847.
Rev. Alvah C. Page was born in Hawley, March 17, 1806 and was ordained as an evangelist at Charlemont in 1831.
Rev. Thomas A. Hall was born in Hawley, Sept. 2, 1813 graduated at Williams in 1838, and was licensed in 1840.
Rev. O. W. Cooley was born in Hawley, June 18, 1816 graduated at Williams in 1841, and was licensed in 1845.
Rev. Foster Lilley was born in Hawley, June 6, 1812; graduated at Williams in 1838, and was licensed in 1840.
Rev. Alfred Longley was born in Hawley, Nov. 10, 1809; studied at Oberlin, and was licensed in 1843. He died March 16. 1851.
Rev. Moses M. Longley was born in Hawley, June 14, 1815, studied at Amherst, and graduated at Oberlin in 1845. He was ordained an evangelist in 1846.
Rev. Elijah Harmon, a native of Hawley, graduated at Amherst, and is the pastor of a church in New Hampshire.
Rev. Joseph Longley became a Congregational minister, but died before he had engaged in pastoral labors.
As Methodists, the Revs. Judah Crosby, Silas Leonard, and Proctor Marsh originated from Hawley.
Josiah Hunt and Henry F. Sears, natives of the town, graduated at Amherst, and became successful teachers.
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