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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��a very respectable family, one of his ancestors having been for many years the President of the ProvincialCounc.il. He was a very acceptable pastor, great- ly beloved by the congregation to whom he preached, and highly respect- ed by the ministers and churches of the other denominations. He was " a pious and useful minister, who discharged his parochial duties with uncommon diligence and faithfulness." The Cal- vinistic Baptist church on the corner of Middle and State streets was the outgrowth of this society.
In 1795 Mr. Lee was in charge of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and on his return from Maine, at the commencement of the year, Jan. 1, he stopped at Ports- mouth and was hospitably entertained at his residence on Washington street, by Samuel Hutchings, the great-grand- father of the late Dr. Brackett Hutchings. The following record was made by Mr. Lee : '-They collected a few of their neighbors together, to whom I preach- ed with liberty and satisfaction ; but religion is at a low ebb in this town at present." From other sources it has been ascertained that his congregation consisted of four persons, beside the family of Mr. Hutchings. There is no record that he stopped at Portsmouth on his next eastern tour, or visited the town in 1796. The minutes assign him to Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. In 1797 Mr. Lee was recommended by conference and became the traveling companion of Bishop Francis Asbury, who was then in feeble health. Rev. George Pickering was the Presiding Elder for New England generally, and also in the years 1798, 1799, and 1S00, to districts designated as Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In 1798 Bishop Asbury and Jesse Lee traveled in New England, and, according to " Asbury's Journal," on August 15, 1798, they "entered properly into New Hampshire." He says : " We passed Hampton Falls where the people and priests were about installing a min- ister into the deceased Dr. Langdon's
��congregation. We had a dripping morning ; however, we set out and rode twenty miles to Portsmouth, where is a fever somewhat malignant and mortal." [The yellow fever was then prevailing.] " This is a well fortified town against the Methodists. Mr. Hutchings and daughter received us with great Christian politeness. Be- ing exceedingly outdone with heat and labor, I was easily persuaded to tarry till morning. We passed the Piscataqua river in a flat-bottom boat at the town . of Portsmouth into Maine." (Rice's ferry, near the stone store on Market street.)
From 179S to 1807 there is no record of Methodist preaching in Ports- mouth ; but the town was no doubt visited, by the itinerants, as appoint- ments were made by the conference to certain towns in the county of Rocking- ham. The late John Trundy. Esquire, a very intelligent and reliable citizen, a native of the town, and an active official member of the church for many years, and well acquainted with Meth- odism in Portsmouth, in its early strug- gle, informed us that class and prayer meetings were held in different parts of the town in 1805 ; that he attended a class-meeting in the winter of that year, on South street ; that many houses, from 1800 to 1807, were noted as being used for social meetings by the people known as Methodises ; and that prior to 1808 a regular organization of classes existed. During this period Jesse Lee was laboring in the South. He had charge of the Annapolis dis- trict, and was chaplain of Congress during six successive terms, which ac- counts for his disappearance from the records of Methodism in New England until 1808. He died Sept. 12, 1816, in Maryland. In 1807 Martin Ruter, the classic student and indefatigable laborer, was appointed to Portsmouth and Nottingham (the only reference to Nottingham in the minutes) . We have no definite information concerning Martin Ruter's labors in Portsmouth during that year. In 1808 Rev. George Pickering was missionary of the Boston
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