On February 4, 1843, Brothers Filmore and Eells were appointed a Committee to visit Elder Smitzer of the Fayetteville Baptist Church to see if he would become pastor of the Pompey and Manlius Baptist Church. (In 1843 Elder Smitzer would be in his fourth year of a six year pastorate in the Fayetteville Baptist Church.) On Saturday April 1, 1843, a regular meeting of the Church was held in the Conference Room. The meeting was opened with prayer by Elder Spaulding. Obviously Elder Smitzer was not available. Elder Spaulding presented a letter of recommendation and proposed to unite with the Church. The Church voted to receive Elder Spaulding as a member, but there was no recorded vote to hire Elder Spaulding as Pastor of the Church.
Elder Spaulding was interested (as was Elder Morton) in promoting the Baptist cause in the Jamesville area. The Church voted that he have the privilege of calling a meeting of the brethren to commune at Jamesville, to hear experiences, if any should present themselves, and if the brethren present at such a meeting are satisfied as to their experiences and view of Church order and discipline, the Elder should have the privilege of baptizing them into the fellowship of their Church. On May 6, 1843, one resident of Jamesville, un-named in the records, related his experience to the Church and was baptized by Elder Spaulding.
The status of Elder Spaulding from April 1, 1843, until June 3, 1843, was not explained. It is possible he was here on trial, because it was not until the regular Church meeting held on June 3, 1843, that the Church voted to make an effort to sustain preaching the following year, and that a Committee of three (Jesse Smith, Sheldon Grover, and John White) was appointed to make the call to Elder Spaulding. The Church voted also that a subscription be drawn up and circulated for the purpose of “seeing how much we can raise for the support of Elder Spaulding should he consent to be our Pastor.” Although it was not reported, Elder Spaulding accepted the call. It was noted that Silas Spaulding, Pastor, was a delegate from the Manlius Church to the Onondaga Association Meeting in September, 1843.
The Church continued to have problems with raising money by the subscription system and started to resort to taking collections to supplement its income. On December 2, 1843, the Church voted to raise additional money for contingent expenses with a monthly collection the first Sunday of the month after every Church Meeting. Times may have been difficult financially since Elder Spaulding was only getting $300.00 a year plus use of the parsonage. (Elder Bellamy had been paid $550.00 plus use of the parsonage for his last year.) Besides the Elder's salary the Trustees had to arrange for custodial services, purchase of wood and candles for heat and light, and repairs to the Church and parsonage.
There were no comprehensive yearly Treasurer's reports, but for each Annual Meeting Report some bits of information were given. For 1843 the Trustees asked for $46.00 to cover the contingent expenses for custodial care, candles and wood in addition to the Elder's salary. In 1844 Annual Meeting Minutes the Treasurer reported that the year started with $4.00 in the Treasury for incidental expenses. He collected $7.59, spent for wine and candles the sum of $6.10 and had in his hand at the end of the year $5.49. It was suggested that the Church raise $20.00 for the 1845 expenses. The members present subscribed for the wood supply. At the December 8, 1845 Annual Meeting the Trustees were asked to settle with Elder Spaulding for his first two years of labor. They were to give him a note for the amount due. Nothing was done, however, and a special meeting was called in March, 1846, to arrange for paying the arrears, $231.00, out of his $600.00 salary ($300.00/year).
On January 6, 1844, the Church appointed Brother John White as a solicitor for the purpose of obtaining funds for the Foreign Missionary Society and the American Bible Society. At a meeting on Saturday, April 13, 1844, with Elder Spaulding, Moderator, the Church took up its regular business, the usual problems with sinning members. Then the Moderator retired from the room and Brother Ketchum took the chair. The Brethren expressed their views relative to calling Elder Spaulding for the 1844-1845 year and voted to call Elder Spaulding for a second year. They appointed a Committee of Moses Eells, Jesse Smith and Hiram Smith to wait on Elder Spaulding and present the call of the Church and report on Sunday, April 21, 1844. The Committee reported it had performed the duty assigned by the Church and that Elder Spaulding felt free to accept the call and would remain with the Church for a year (same conditions.) The Church voted that Brother Hiram Smith draw up a subscription for $300.00 to pay for his support.
Upper New York State in the 1800s seemed to be a breeding ground for new varieties of religious sects. During the summer of 1844 in the Town of Manlius there was a large encampment of Millerites, named for their leader William Miller, a former Baptist minister. He made a series of Biblical calculations and announced in 1831 that the end of the world would occur in 1843 or 1844. Many people sold their possessions and waited in anticipation. Their wait was, of course, in vain. Some were disillusioned, but others continued to meet as a denomination that would eventually be called the Seventh Day Adventists. Spiritualism, Mormonism and Perfectionism (the creed of the Oneida Community begun in 1848), all had their beginnings in upstate New York.
The date of the establishment of a Sabbath School in the Church was not recorded. The first mention of a Sabbath School was in the minutes of a meeting on Saturday, January 31, 1845. The Church voted to adjourn its meeting to "one week from tomorrow immediately after Sabbath School Services."
Methodist Hannah Ball started the first Sunday School in England in 1769. Robert Racheks, an Anglican, developed and popularized the concept on the streets of London. The purpose of the first American Sunday School was to reach the unchurched. In the nineteenth century the focus was on Christian Education for those already a part of the Church. The Pompey and Manlius Baptist Church pursued both objectives for a time with its Sunday School to educate its children and adults and satellite Sunday Schools to reach the unchurched or people in areas with as yet not local Churches.
The Onondaga Baptist Association was promoting the Sunday School in 1837 (and perhaps earlier.) It recommended the use of New England Baptist Sunday School Union materials until New York had such an organization. They recommended that each Baptist Church establish a Sunday School in each school district. An Onondaga Sunday School Society was organized for the promotion of the Sunday School enterprise. Later an association of the Town of Manlius Sunday Schools was established.
On Saturday, April 19, 1845, supplying the pulpit for another year (his third) was the main object of discussion. After Elder Spaulding prayed, Moses Eells was appointed Chairman of the meeting. Elder Spaulding stated the reason for the meeting. He said that he wished the Church to understand distinctly that he did not consider them under any obligation to him in consequence of his residing here, but wanted the Church to act as though he was entirely out of the way. Elder Spaulding was hired for his third year.
There was little mention of Elder Spaulding for the year 1845-1846. He was appointed a delegate to the Onondaga Association Meeting in September of 1845. There was no record of his being asked, but Elder Spaulding did serve a fourth year (1846-1847) as Elder. Elder Spaulding was obviously a second choice as Brothers White and Sweet were in contact with Elder John Smitzer now of the Chittenango and Sullivan Baptist Church, to ask whether he expected to leave Chittenango immediately or whether he expected to leave at the end of the year. In his written reply dated June 11, 1846, Elder Smitzer replied that he did not intend to leave immediately and that he could not say at present but that he should be guided by events that run the course of the year.
From March 6, 1846, to December 8, 1847, there were no entries in the record book so we know nothing of events that occurred during Elder Spaulding's final year. The last word from Elder Spaulding was dated August 13, 1847, requesting a settlement of his account with the Church. The Brethren thought they had settled with him before he left and, therefore, no action was taken. (Considering the Church's poor record of paying its Elders, Elder Spaulding was probably still owed money.)
Elder Spaulding is another of several Elders of the Church for which we have very little information. We do not know where he came from, where he went, his age, his marital status, his education.
