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The Narrows, Granville, Massachusetts.
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he rendered efficient service as a preacher, and both in the home of his childhood and among strangers he showed himself a man of exceptional ability. One of his sermons, preached from the text, "Ye shall not surely die," was published in 1805, and was printed and reprinted in American and England, passing through many editions. Timothy Dwight of Yale once heard him preach, and testified to the profit he received from the instruction. Like the famous Phyllis Wheatley, he seems to have been a marked character among the negro people of America, no doubt inheriting from some Puritan father an intellect which, united with a keen sense of humor and ready wit, enabled this child of love to lift himself from the degradation of birth into a place where he was esteemed by all who knew him.
But by all means the most famous of the pastors of Granville was Timothy Mather Cooley, who went in and out before the people of the first church for sixty-three years. His is the name around which centres much of the sentiment of the town; his life is the silken thread which discloses the secret passageways of its history. A graduate of Yale, he refused a unanimous call to a more important charge, where the salary was better, to return to his native place to take the pastorate of a discordant church
West Granville.
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which had not had a pastor for twenty years. His first request before settlement was that a fund he raised to provide in part at least for the support of the ministry. Generous subscriptions were made and the endowment was secured which has aided the church to the present time. On the third day of February, 1796, Mr. Cooley was ordained pastor of the church, having in his parish 438 males and 439 females, among the number being his parents and grandparents. He was a fine classical scholar and, having great influence over the young, he was able to train many men who developed noble characters. When in 1845 the "Granville Jubilee" was held to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his pastorate, his historical
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