USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Roxbury > An address delivered on the viii of October, MDCCCXXX, the second centennial anniversary, of the settlement of Roxbury > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Gc 974.402 R793de 2029294
M. L
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01145 8491
AN
ADDRESS
DELIVERED
ON THE VIII OF OCTOBER, MDCCCXXX,
THE
SECOND CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY,
OF THE
SETTLEMENT OF ROXBURY.
MASS
BY Henry
xander scannel
DEARBORN.
I praise God, we have many occasions of comfort here .- Gov. WINT.
L
ROXBURY:
7
PUBLISHED BY CHARLES P. EMMONS. J. H. Eastburn .... Printer .... Boston.
MDCCCXXX.
78 8216 5
029294
DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS .- to wit :
District Clerk's Office.
BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the nineteenth day of October, A. D. 1830, in the fifty fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, CHARLES P. EMMONS, of the said District, has deposited in this Office the Title of a Book, the Right whereof he claims as Pro- prietor, in the words following, to wit :
" An Address delivered on the VIII of October, MDCccxxx, the Second Centennial Anniversary, of the Settlement of Roxbury. By H. A. S. Dearborn.
I praise God, we have many occasions of comfort here .- Gov. WINT."
In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned :" and also to an Act entitled " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, an Act for the enuouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the Au- thors and Proprietors of such copies during the times thercin mentioned ; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, end etching historical and other prints."
JNO . W. DAVIS, . Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.
1
A
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/addressdelivered00dear 0
TOWN OF ROXBURY.
AT a meeting of the Citizens of Roxbury, held on the 8th of October, 1830, it was Voted-That the Selectmen of the Town be a Committee, to wait on the Hon. HENRY A. S. DEARBORN, and in behalf of their fellow citizens, to thank him, for the eloquent, and truly patriotic Address, delivered by him, on that day, in commem- oration of the first settlement of the Town, and to request, of him, a copy for the press.
The Subscribers, Selectmen of Roxbury, in communicating the above Vote, would individually express their hopes, that the re- quest, therein contained, will be complied with.
ELIJAH LEWIS, B. P. WILLIAMS, JONATHAN DORR, SAMUEL GUILD, JACOB TIDD.
Roxbury, October 13, 1830,
Brinley Place, Roxbury, October 14, 1830.
Gentlemen,
I am hghly gratified to learn, that the Address, which I had the honor to deliver, on the Second Centennial Anniversary of the Settlement of Roxbury, was acceptable to my fellow citizens : and . I cheerfully place it in your hands for publication.
Very Respectfully, Your Obedient Servant,
H. A. S. DEARBORN.
Elijah Lewis, B. P. Williams, Jonathan Dorr, Samuel Guild, and Jacob Tidd, Esq'rs, Selectmen of Roxbury.
·
ADDRESS.
Fellow Citizens,
THE most instructive lessons of history, are those, which delineate the progress of civilization, the de- velopement of morals, the dawnings of intelligence, and the glorious effects of exalted attainments, in science, literature and the arts. Wars, and battles and martial deeds rouse the imagination, excite a startling interest, and give an imposing splendour to the character of nations ; but the youthful and ar- dent should be admonished, to consider them, as la- mentable incidents in the annals of the human race,- as the awful results of unprincipled ambition, or the horrible pursuits of barbarians, which are to be de- precated, rather than deemed worthy of emulation.
The proud array of armies and the tremendous conflicts of the battle-field, have, too generally, been the chief and favorite themes of the historian ; but how deleterious has been their influence, upon the character of man ; how adverse to the progress of virtue and how fatal to the prosperity of empires ? General decadence and ultimate ruin are the inev- itable consequences. They have prostrated the mon- uments of civilization, eclipsed the sun of intelli-
-
6-
gence, and for centuries involved the whole earth, in the cold and cheerless night of ignorance and su- perstition !
National pride may be flattered, in commemo- rating the names of distinguished heroes, and the victories they had achieved,-and when for liberty and independence,-when in defence of personal and public security, this is commendable. But the most renowned captains, had far different objects ; their sanguinary campaigns, were rather for con- quest, plunder, and universal domination, than the vindication of rights, or the resistance of outrage. Still such has been the apparent national proclivity of man, and of nations, for military fame, that the science of war has been more zealously cultivated, than the arts of peace ; and the wealth and resour- ces of kingdoms have been estimated, only as the means of rendering them powerful in the field, and not as the measure of the happiness, intelligence and virtues of the people.
The most glorious epochs and scycles, in the annals of the world, are not those, which are designated by battles and memorable conquests ; like tempests and carthquakes, their grandeur astonishes and their ter- rors command attention ; but they afford no practi- cal instruction,-add nothing to the fund of human knowledge,-aid not in the developements of the mind, in elevating the morals, in ameliorating the condition of society, or in accelerating the progress of general civilization. These are the happy results of intellectual cultivation, the enjoyments, which are only secured, under the benign influence of peace ; the blessings, which flow from purity of heart and
7
lofty conceptions of religious duty. To duly appre- ciate them, and render them still more subservient to the great purposes of individual and national ex- altation, history must be examined with philosoph- ical discrimination, a just conception of the true objects of social and political institutions, and en- larged views of the attainable perfection, happiness and dignity of human nature ; a watchful observance must be given to those unobtrusive incidents, which mark the earliest awakenings of reason, the incip- ient indications of independence of thought and of action ; the first movements of that majestic spirit of liberty, which demands the exercise of natural rights, the recognition of the eternal principles of justice and morality, and the establishment of government, on the broad foundations of civil and religious freedom.
In the prosecution of this interesting inquiry, the history of the physical exploits of men and of na- tions, is of but little moment, compared with that of their moral attainments, and intellectual advance- ment. It is those acts, events, and eras, which are memorable for their association with the latter, that have claimed the profoundest consideration, and in- duced the most laborious researches of the philan- thropie statesman and legislator,-of those illustrious benefactors of man, who have been more ambitious to render their country preeminent for the virtues, intelligence and happiness of the people, than for victories gained, or provinces subdued.
Entertaining such opinions in relation to the re- sponsible duties of the historian, the objects to which his labors should be directed, and the pur- poses of their appropriation, it may be readily per-
-
السند
U
8
ceived, that I have assumed a task far beyond my humble powers ;- that I am incapable of traversing that vast domain, with either honor to myself, or the event which we have assembled to commemorate ; but so familiar are the motives which prompted our forefathers to abandon their native land, and found an empire in this distant region ; so conspicuous are the results of their bold and adventurous carcer, that I rely on your own vivid recollections for the appli- cation of the principles I have assumed, knowing, full well, how inadequate are my abilities, to illus- trate them, in a manner commensurate with their importance ; and how presumptuous is the attempt, to enter that immense field of inquiry, where the mighty genius of a Webster, the learning, and eloquence of a Story, an Everett and a Quincy have been so suc- cessfully displayed. I may be lighted onward, by the effulgence they have thrown, into its darkest recesses ; but cannot expect to follow out, the lengthened ave- nues of research, which they have opened,-to ascend those giddy heights, whence inspiration comes, and where they have dared to range,-or to increase the treasures, which they have brought back, to enrich the majestic temple of knowledge.
The causes which produced the republics of New- England, are to be sought in the history of the Re- formation. During the religious convulsions, which agitated the British empire, from the reign of Henry VIII. to the death of Charles I., a spirit of freedom was aroused, which the mandates of sovereigns could not subdue, or the fires of Smithfield extinguish .- Having bid defiance to the thunders of the Vatican, and guided our adventurous ancestors through the
-
9
perils of the deep, it prostrated, for a time, the regal government of England, and ultimately broke the blood-stained sceptre of the disastrous house of Stu- art.
The two great parties which divided the church, and alternately bore sway, from the abolition of pontifical power, until the revolution, were Protes- tants and Papists ; but the former soon separated into two other sects, or denominations, called Conform- ists and Puritans. The Puritans rejected the old catholic ceremonies, as unscriptural, and were in favor of apostolical purity, in discipline, worship and doctrine ; but they long continued to remain in the established church, believing, that their being re- strained by human laws, neither destroyed their rights, or christian character. At length, so oppres- sive became the exactions and penalties of the Gov- ernment, that some of the more independent min- isters, with their adherents, renounced all con- nexion with the church, and formed others, under the name of Separatists ; but they were speed- ily compelled to seek refuge from persecution, on the European continent, where the great Luther had first unfurled the standard of the Reformation. The colonists of Plymouth were of this exiled sect ; while the settlers of Massachusetts Bay were Puritans, who had been brought up in the national Church, and lived in communion with her, until hierarchal tyranny became so rigorous and uncompromising, that they also, were obliged to flee to this common refuge of liberty, from the unrelenting wrath of the vindictive Whitgift, the furious Bancroft, and of the merciless and remorseless Laud.
2
10
In 1617, Robinson's church, which was established at Leyden, sent agents to London, to treat with the Virginia Company, for a place of settlement in North America ; and an arrangement having been complet- ed, after much trouble and delay, the first expedition under Governor Carver, left England in August, 1620, and landed at Plymouth, the following Decem- ber.
The privations and sufferings of this pious pilgrim band, on these bleak and savage shores, might have appalled stouter hearts and more energetic minds. Cold, hunger, sickness, despondence and death came upon them, in all their horrors. In less than three months half their numbers perished. With what fond, yet sad recollection, did they look out upon that wilderness of waters, which separated them from their own dear England ; and how withering was the dreary prospect which surrounded them; how mournful their humble dwellings, how poignant their griefs, and how deep their sorrows, during that long tempestuous and melancholy winter. Not a ray of joy beamed upon the care-worn brows of those holy adventurers, and nothing but a firm confidence, in the mercy and protection of God, prevented all from sinking down, in absolute despair. A zealous de- votion to the rights of conscience, a sanguine be lief in the sacredness of their cause, and the consola- tory reflection, that they were opening the way for propagating the sublime precepts of Christianity, in the remotest ends of the earth, gave encouragement to hope, and cheered them on, in their perilous career. Athwart the impending gloom, they beheld the far-dis- tant glimmerings of a glorious future, and with apos-
11
tolic resolution, triumphantly reared the first column of civil and religious freedom, on the snow-capt heights of New-England.
The various and wondrous rumours, from this western world,-so full of peril and of promise,- came like prophetic whisperings to the much wrong- ed, long-suffering, yet steadfast Puritans of the old. They hailed them as the enunciation of an exodus, by which alone they could be delivered from the onerous grievances of mental bondage, and those wanton acts of cruelty and injustice, which stigma- tized the character of the reigning monarch. Glow- ing with the enthusiasm of that age of general excite- ment,-that era of discovery, many soon came to the determination of encountering the present hardships, that they might participate in the prospective bene- fits of emigrants. If no divine messenger, lawgiver and leader, like him from Horeb, came with the glad tidings of emancipation, they doubted not their fortu- nate destinies; the route had been designated, as by the finger of the Almighty ; freedom waved them onward, and they resolved to go forth, to this great Canaan of universal refuge, where they might realise the full enjoyment of all their rights.
These bright conceptions were so fraught with alluring incentives to vigorous action, and practical illustration, that a plan was projected, as early as 1627, by a number of respectable gentlemen of Lin- colnshire, for forming a settlement in Massachusetts Bay ; and being joined by other distinguished adven- turers of London and Dorsetshire, it was ultimately matured, and a grant was obtained, on the 19th of March, 1628, of all the land, from three miles south
12
of Charles river, to three miles north of Merrimac river, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean .*
In June, 1628, Captain John Endicott was sent to" Salem,t where he arrived in September with a small party, " to make way for settling a colony there."} The following year, he was joined by about three hundred emigrants.
Scarcely had these pioneers of civilization landed, before they began to experience the disastrous con- sequences of great exposure, fatigue, the want of wholesome food and comfortable dwellings: still so favorable was the information, which was transmitted to the company, as to soil, climate, general aspect of the country, and the advantages which it offered to the enterprizing and industrious, it was determined, at a meeting held in London on the 29th of August, 1629, " that the patent and government of the plan- tation should be transferred to New-England."§
In conformity to this arrangement, preparations were commenced in October, for sending out a large colony; and John Winthrop having been elected Governor, and Thomas Dudley Deputy Governor, a fleet of fourteen sail left England before the end of May, 1630, in which were embarked fifteen hundred passengers.|
The Governor arrived at Salem in the Arabella on the 12th of June, and the remaining ships soon after reached their destination. Not being pleased with the location of that town, a large number of the emi-
* Douglass' Summary, Vol. 2.
t Naumkeak. # Prince's Chro.
§ Prince.
Il Seventeen sail arrived during the year. Dudley's Letter to the Coun- tess of Lincoln. His. Col. 1 Se. vol. 8.
-
1
13
grants removed to Charlestown,* while the others were dispersed over the country, from Saugust to Dorchester,# and settlements were speedily com- menced at Medford, Watertown, Cambridge, Boston, and Roxbury.
The emigrants who accompanied Governor Will- throp, experienced many of the calamities which were encountered by their compatriots, who had joined the preceding expeditions under Carver and Endecott. They were alike afflicted with those fatal diseases which result from great and unaccus- tomed labour, the deprivations of abundant and healthy food, appropriate raiment, and adequate pro- tection from the vicissitudes and inclemencies of the weather. Dudley, in his letter to the Countess of Lincoln, describes the effects of these chastening adversities with the resignation, fortitude and hopes of a christian champion. "Of the people who came over with us, from the time of their setting sail from England to December, there died, by estimation, 200 at the least; so low hath the Lord brought us. Well, yet they who survived were not discouraged, but bearing God's corrections with humility, and trusting in his mercies, and considering how, after a lower ebb, he had raised up our neighbors, at Ply- mouth, we began to consult about a fit place to build a town upon."§
There was considerable difficulty in selecting a site for the capital of the colony, as the inhabitants of each settlement gave a preference to their own location. To decide this important question, " the
* Mishawam. + Lynn. # Mattapan.
§ Llis. Col. 1 Sc. vol. 8.
14
Governor and most of the Assistants and others met at Roxbury, on the sixth of December, and there agreed to build a town fortified upon the Neck, be- tween that and Boston, and a committee was appoint- ed to consider of all things requisite."*
This committee met at Roxbury, on the fourteenth of December, and concluded that the place which had been designated was not proper: "because men would be forced to keep two families ; there was no running water ; and most of the people had built already, and would not be able to build again."+
At a meeting held in Watertown, on the twenty- first of December, that was considered a " fit place," but was given up for Cambridge, where the seat of Government was established, for a short time, when Boston became the metropolis of Massachusetts.
The Indian appellation of Shawmut was changed to Trimountain by the early visitors of the coast, and having received its present name at the second Court of Assistants, holden at Charlestown on the seventh day of September, 1630, the foundation of the city has been dated from that day ; } and as Roxbury§ is mentioned for the first time, in the records of the third Court of Assistants, held on the 28th of Sep- tember, || as one of the plantations, on which a portion of a general tax of fifty pounds was levied, that day has been assumed as the period of its settlement. 1 But it is certain, that many families had established themselves here some months previous, for the
* Gov. Winthrop's His. New-England. t Ibid.
# Prince's Chro. His. § Note A. || Prince's Chro. His.
T According to the Gregorian, or New Style, the date of the settlement of Boston is the 17th of September, and that of Roxbury the 8th of Oc- tober.
-
.
15
amount of the tax imposed upon Roxbury was greater than the quota paid by Salem and Medford, and but little less than the assessments upon Charlestown and Dorchester .* It also appears by the Register of births, that a child was born in this parish, in July, 1630.+
Neither very exact or extensive information is at- tainable, in relation to the early history of Rox- bury, as the first volume of the town records has been lost, and the second does not commence before the 29th of April, 1648. The name, according to Wood, who visited this country in 1633, was derived from the ruggedness of the soil. }
The records of the church commence, with the names and biographical sketches of some of the prin- cipal members. The first person mentioned is Wil- liam Pinchon, who is said to be "one of the first foundation of the church ;" and Prince states, that he was also " the principal founder of the town,-that he was a gentleman of learning and religion, the nine- teenth Associate mentioned in the Charter and the sixth Associate who come over." > He was annually chosen to the office of Assistant until 1636; and " when so many removed from these parts to plant Connecticut River, he also with other company went thither, and planted at a place called Agawam," || the site of the present flourishing town of Spring- field, and thus became " the father of two towns in Massachusetts."I " Afterwards" it is remarked in the Church Records he wrote a Dialogue concerning
* See Note B. t Register of Births in Roxbury.
# See Note A. § Prince's Chro. Hist.
Il Rox. Ch. Records. T Eliot's Bi. Dictionary.
-
16
justification which was printed in 1650, styled the " MERITORIOUS PRIZE,-a book full of error and wickedness and some heresies, which the General Court of Massachusetts condemned to be burnt, and appointed Mr. John Norton the preacher at Ipswich to refute the errors contained therein." *
How deluded, and heedless was the Legislature ; how unjust and reprehensible its anathema ; for Pinchon was one of the most virtuous, intelligent, pious, able and independent men of the age,-the Priestly of the young Republic. Although de- nounced by the Government, his character and con- duct are above reproach. His religious conceptions were centuries in advance of the period in which he lived ; and while we regret the indignities he suf- fered, we rejoice that the name of such an honest, upright and learned Christian emblazons the first page of our parochial annals ;- that the founder of our church and town, was among the most worthy of all the emigrants. t
When the Church members of this town formed an association, is uncertain ; but probably in the autumn of 1630, or early in 1631. It appears by the records that " the people joined to the Church at Dorchester, till God should give them an opportunity to be a church by themselves, when George Alcock, was chosen to be a Deacon, especially to the regard brethren at Roxbury ; and after he adjoined himself to this Church at Roxbury, he was ordained a dea- con." }
* Roxbury Church Records.
t See Note C.
# Roxbury Church Records.
.
17
The first Pastor was Thomas Weld, and although his name is the second recorded, among the seven- teen males, who appear to have formed the consti- tuting members, not a word is added thereto. He arrived with his family at Boston in the William and Francis on the fifth of June, 1632, * and in July " after many imparlances and a day of humiliation, by those of Boston and Roxbury, to seek the Lord for Mr. Weld his disposing, and the advice of those of Plymouth being taken, at length he resolved to sit down with them of Roxbury,"t and about that time he was invested in the pastoral office over them." }
Mr. Weld came from Tirling in Essex. He was a man of considerable talents and learning ; and hav- ing rendered himself obnoxious to the penalties of the laws, against non-conformists, which the church and state were then eager and prompt to exact, he was obliged to flee to New-England for protection. But, alas ! for the fallibility of human nature ; how profitless to him were the stern lessons of intol- erance. Scarcely had he taken refuge among his countrymen, who had sought liberty by expatriation, before he became a high-priest of persecution,-a volunteer denunciator of all other sects, and of all opinions which quadrated not with his own religious tenets. The conspicuous and reprehensible part he took in the cruel and memorable prosecution of Mrs. Hutchinson, which ended in the excommunication and banishment of that much wronged lady, is a lamentable instance of the baneful effects of mis-
* Winthrop's History.
t Winthrop's History.
# Prince's Chro. His.
3
18
guided piety and religious fanaticism. It has cast a deep shadow over the memory of that honest, but deluded man, and fixed a most dishonorable stain upon the carly history of this Commonwealth. Hle had left the temples and altars of his fathers, that he might worship God, according to the dictates of his own conscience, and then, with pharisaical bigotry, denounces a virtuous and intelligent female as " the American Jezabel," for merely presuming to exercise the same freedom.
In the equally oppressive and reprehensible pro- ceedings against the illustrious Roger Williams,- the exiled founder of Rhode-Island,-he evinced the same uncompromising spirit, and rashly aided in driv- ing forth from our borders, that great patriarch of civil and religious liberty.
Not satisfied with this rigid discharge of his imag- ined evangelical duties, in the councils of the govern- ment, he hurled his anathemas, through the medium of the press, against Antinomians, Quakers, Jews and Anabaptists, with a prodigality of invective, which rivalled that of Rome and Canterbury.
Mr. Weld was sent agent to Great Britain, with the renowned Hugh Peters, in 1641, and never re- turned. He went to Ireland with Lord Forbes, where he remained for some time, and then returned to his parish and living in the Bishoprick of Derham, from which he was ejected in 1662 .*
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.