USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The Manifesto church. : Records of the church in Brattle square, Boston, with lists of communicants, baptisms, marriages and funerals, 1699-1872 > Part 1
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38. Boston, Mass. The Manifesto Church. Records of the Church in Brattle Square, Boston, with Lists of Communicants, Baptisms, Marriages, and Funerals. 1699-1872. Illustrated. 8yo, cloth, pp. 464. Boston, 1902. $5.00
RECORDS OF THE CHURCH IN BRATTLE SQUARE BOSTON
WITH LISTS OF COMMUNICANTS, BAPTISMS MARRIAGES, AND FUNERALS
1699-1872
1
BRATTLE SQUARE CHURCH. Dedicated 1773. Demolished 1872.
The Manifesto Church
RECORDS
OF THE
Church in Grattle Square
BOSTON
WITH LISTS OF COMMUNICANTS, BAPTISMS MARRIAGES, AND FUNERALS
1699-1872
BOSTON THE BENEVOLENT FRATERNITY OF CHURCHES
1902
Acc. 2018- 1602
UNIVERSITY PRESS : JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.
Editorial Committee. ELLIS LORING MOTTE. HENRY FITCH JENKS. JOHN HOMANS, 2D.
PREFACE.
I N the year 1697 there were in the town of Boston the brick meeting- house of the Quakers and five churches, - the First, Second, Third or Old South, the First Baptist, and King's Chapel.
In these five churches, except the last, Calvinism was preached in its full rigor, and the early customs and prejudices of New England were maintained in force. The communicants exercised a distinct and original jurisdiction in church affairs. Candidates for admission were obliged to give a public relation of religious experience ; and so great was the dislike to the Church of England that the reading of the Scriptures and the use of the Lord's Prayer were refused in their services because they were included in the forms of that church. The elective body in the choice of the minister was the communicants ; and beyond that as a barrier to the passage of any element dangerous to the established con- gregational organization was the power lodged in the body of ordained clergy to object to or veto the election of a pastor who seemed to them unfit for the common service of the gospel.
In 1697, under the guidance of John Leverett and William and Thomas Brattle, a movement began to found a religious society which should take the liberal side on these questions.
On the Ioth of January, 1698, Thomas Brattle conveyed the land on which the meeting-house was to stand ; and on the 10th of May, 1699, a formal invitation was extended to Benjamin Colman, then in Eng- land, to be ordained there, and return to this country and be its minister. Mr. Colman was a native of Boston, twenty-six years of age, who had been prepared for college by the celebrated Ezekiel Cheever, and was graduated from Harvard College in 1692.
The liberal policy of the church was declared in a manifesto (supposed by some to have been written by him), which was published almost immediately upon his return.
viii
PREFACE.
In this manifesto were announced the principles which were to govern the new church, which related entirely to. order and worship, and of these the principal were : -
I. The reading of some portion of Holy Scripture in public worship at the discretion of the minister ;
2. The administration of baptism to the children of any person who would make a genuine profession of Christian faith and a desire and purpose to educate them therein ;
3. The relinquishment of the relation of experiences ; and
4. The permission of all the members of the congregation, without distinction of communicants and non-communicants, to act and vote in parish affairs and in the election of a minister.
In June, 1701, it was thought desirable to furnish Mr. Colman with an assistant, and Mr. Eliphalet Adams was so engaged; but the engage- ment terminated, not altogether pleasantly, in about two years and a half. For the next twelve years Mr. Colman had sole charge of the parish ; and then, in August, 1715, Mr. William Cooper was chosen a colleague pastor, and ordained on the 23d day of May, 1716. This relation was harmoniously maintained for twenty-seven years, until the death of Mr. Cooper, Dec. 14, 1743, after a short illness.
" William Cooper loved Calvinism in all its austerity, extravagance, and tumult. Without any extraordinary qualifications for a popular preacher, he was a laborious and devoted minister." 1
On the 2 1st day of May, 1745, Mr. Samuel Cooper was ordained as the successor of his father as colleague to Dr. Colman. About fifteen months later, Aug. 29, 1747, Dr. Colman died.
" Dr. Colman was not so fortunate as to be a universal favorite, whether from personal qualities or because the odium excited by the innovations of his church upon the established ecclesiastical order never entirely subsided ; but it does not seem to have disturbed him, since he felt himself secure in the regard of his own people." 2
Dr. Cooper retained the sole pastorate from the death of Dr. Colman until his own death, which occurred suddenly on the 29th of December, 1783. when he was fifty-eight years of age.
These three pastors of The Church in Brattle Square were natives of Boston, and each was chosen to and declined the presidency of Har- vard College. Dr. Cooper was one of the most prominent public men of his day, and exerted a very great influence in the events which led up to the Revolution.
1 Dr. Palfrey's Anniversary Sermon. 2 Ibid.
ix
PREFACE.
" To less uncommon endowments he joined an address and what is called a talent for affairs which, if he had not been the leading divine, would per- haps have distinguished him as the most accomplished gentleman and adroit statesman of his country and time. While his name appears to the public view prominent upon the records of patriotism, in the memory of his religious associates it is embalmed no less in the odor of sanctity." 1
It was not till the spring following his death that any attempts were made looking towards securing a successor to Dr. Cooper, and not until the following October that the choice fell upon the Rev. Peter Thacher, of Malden. Mr. Thacher was not, like his predecessors, a native of Boston, but was born in the neighboring town of Milton, during the temporary residence there of his parents.
So unusual was it then for a church to call to its service the settled pastor of another church that the propriety of the act led to much dis- cussion, in which the newspapers took a prominent part. For the account of the circumstances, reference must be made to Dr. Lothrop's history of the Brattle Street Church, in which they are fully treated.
At a meeting of the church, held December 12, 1784, Mr. Thacher was invited to become pastor. He accepted the invitation, and was in- stalled on the 12th of January, 1785.
Dr. Thacher's ministry lasted nearly eighteen years. He died at Savannah, Ga., whither he had gone in search of health, on the 16th of December, 1802, when he was in the fifty-third year of his age. A me- moir of him will be found in the eighth volume of the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
" Mr. Thacher's preaching was direct, practical, and earnest; but he is said to have owed his remarkable popularity not more to his evident piety and zeal and the power of his mind and style than to the graces of a most captivating elocution. His memory is most gratefully to be honored, who, having access to minds which controlled the public opinion, engaged and secured their influence in favor of all that is most valuable to men." 2
After his death the society was for nearly two years without a minister. On the 9th of December, 1804, Mr. Joseph Stevens Buckminster was invited to become the pastor. He accepted the invitation, and was ordained on the 30th of January, 1805. The ministry of this remark- able man was exceedingly brief, but made a deep and lasting impression. He died on the 9th of June, 1812.
"Mr. Buckminster was one of those who seem appointed to the high and needful office of conciliating to religion the minds of intellectual and tasteful men." 3
1 Dr. Palfrey's Anniversary Sermon. 2 Ibid. 8 Ibid.
X
PREFACE.
He was succeeded by another brilliant man, whose ministry was still briefer than his own. On the Ioth of December, 1813, Edward Everett, a graduate of the Class of 1811 at Harvard College, was invited to the vacant pastorate, and was ordained on the 9th of February, 1814. He was elected to the Eliot Professorship of Greek Literature in Harvard College, and his connection with the society was dissolved March 5, 1815.
After his resignation the pulpit was vacant more than three years, until, on the 20th of April, 1818, Mr. John Gorham Palfrey was invited to fill it. ' He accepted, and was ordained on the 17th of June, 1818. In February, 1831, Mr. Palfrey left his position to become Dexter Professor of Sacred Literature in Harvard College.
The pulpit was then vacant for four years, until April, 1834, when the Rev. Samuel K. Lothrop, then of Dover, N. H., was invited to it, and was installed June 18, 1834. Dr. Lothrop's ministry lasted until 1876, when he resigned.
The old church originally erected by the undertakers in 1699 was built of wood. It had a tower and bell on the west end, and a door on the south side, opposite to which was the pulpit. Its window frames were of iron. It had never been painted, inside or outside. Within a few years after Mr. Cooper's ordination it was found necessary to enlarge it, which was done by an addition to the building in the rear of the pulpit, with pews on the floor, and a gallery. As late as 1766 additional pews were constructed. After seventy years a movement for a new church was begun, and in 1772 John Hancock offered a generous contribution towards the erection of a new church. This was finally decided upon ; and the society assembled for the last time in the old house on the roth of May, 1772.
The old house was taken down and the ground cleared between May 14 and 18, and on June 23 the corner-stone of a new building was laid. The whole work was finished so that services were held in the new build- ing on the 24th of July, 1773.
The troubles of the Revolution soon came on. Dr. Cooper left Boston, April 16, 1775, for what was supposed would be merely a visit, but did not return until after the evacuation, March 17, 1776. Services were only occasionally held in the church during his absence. The journal of Timothy Newell, deacon of the church, printed in the Col- lections of the Massachusetts Historical Society (4th ser., vol. I, p. 261) gives some account of the vicissitudes the building underwent during that period, and of its occupancy, Oct. 27, 1775, as barracks for the British soldiery.
The night before the evacuation the church was struck by the cannon
xi
PREFACE.
ball so familiar to the past generation as its distinguishing feature. It knocked out a few bricks and fell to the ground, was picked up by Mr. Turell, who lived opposite, and preserved by the family, serving, it is said, for many years as a weight for the front gate. In 1825, when the church was repaired, it was inserted in the spot where it struck; and from that time, in the words of Dr. Holmes, the church -
" Wore on its bosom, as a bride might do, The iron breastpin that the rebels threw."
The ball is now in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The house was again opened for worship after the evacuation on the 19th of May.
In November, 1778, the society, by the will of Lydia Hancock, came into possession of the house in Court Street, which was occupied as a parsonage by successive ministers until July, 1855, when the Supreme Court, in the decision of the celebrated case, Proprietors of the Church in Brattle Square v. Moses Grant et al., authorized its disposal ; and the proceeds were invested in the estate No. 12 Chestnut Street, which was occupied by Dr. Lothrop until his death in 1886.
In 1871 it was decided to sell the church estate and remove to a loca- tion on the land in what is known as the Back Bay district. The last service was held in the church edifice July 30, 1871. The new building was completed in 1873, and dedicated on the 22d of December. The acoustic properties of this edifice were so defective that it was soon seen that there was little probability of the successful maintenance of the church. Many prominent parishioners had died in the interval since the removal from the old building, and the strength of the society was seriously impaired. After the resignation of Dr. Lothrop a paralysis seemed to take possession of those in authority ; and after a short time, the burden of the debt seeming insurmountable, the building was sold, and came into possession of the First Baptist Society.
The corporation, however, was not dissolved. It still retained the parsonage house and some charitable funds. These, by action of the Parish, were transferred to the Benevolent Fraternity of Churches, and the corporation was so merged in the same that the Fraternity has now become its legitimate successor, holding its property and discharging its trusts.
The church as a distinct entity practically becoming extinct with this action, it seemed desirable that the existing records should be printed as a memorial, and the Benevolent Fraternity became responsible for this being done. The work of editing and preparing them for the press was intrusted to a committee of the old church and society, composed of Mr. Ellis L. Motte, for many years parish clerk ; Rev. Henry F. Jenks,
xii
PREFACE.
a son of the church under the ministry of Dr. Lothrop; and John Homans, 2d, M.D., also a son of the church, the grandson of Dr. Lothrop.
The work has been long in hand, as it had to be pursued in the leisure from engrossing professional pursuits. The editing has been mostly done by Mr. Jenks and Dr. Homans of the committee, though the former has had the chief supervision and responsibility for it ; and it is now set forth as a monument of the church which represented the first liberal move- ment of Congregationalism in Boston, which was marked for the distinc- tion of its ministers and the high character and wide usefulness of those attendant upon its services, who occupied the most exalted positions in city and State during its nearly two centuries of active life, and which finally, leaving the scene of its glory, went out of existence as the result of the most singular fatuity and the most unfortunate combination of circumstances. Few churches have enjoyed a higher prestige, or ren- dered more useful service to the community, than that which in its beginning was known as the Manifesto Church.
The records are contained in two volumes, the older bound in parch- ment or vellum. About the middle of the book begin the records proper, the first page of which we have reproduced in a size about two-thirds of the original. The book also contains Dr. Colman's record of com- municants, of baptisms and marriages, and receipts of money. During the joint ministry of Dr. Colman and Mr. Cooper the record seems to have been kept solely by the former, although the official acts of the lat- ter are recorded. The younger Cooper paid little attention to the rec- ords. Twenty lines on one half-page of the records and about as many more on a loose sheet comprise all that stands recorded in his own hand of his ministry of thirty-nine years' duration. In the handwriting of Dr. Thacher is a list of the baptisms administered, the marriages sol- emnized, and the admissions to the church made during Dr. Cooper's ministry, purporting to have been copied from his interleaved almanacs. Dr. Thacher's own records were carefully kept, and those of Messrs. Buckminster, Everett, and Palfrey are pretty full. Dr. Lothrop's records are not very complete. He had the habit of Dr. Cooper of keeping many minutes in his diaries, and these have not been accessible.
The records of the parish, separate from the church, and of the building committee which erected the meeting-house in 1772, are con- tained in several other volumes, but as their substance is to be found in Dr. Lothrop's history, it has not seemed expedient to include them in the present publication.
In printing these records we have followed the manuscript exactly, only correcting one or two manifest errors, which we have noted. We
xiii
PREFACE.
have avoided notes as far as possible, and have made no attempt to identify persons under differences of spelling. This has been particularly the case in the Index, where we have preserved the different spellings of the same name, occasionally bringing two or more variations together, but usually making cross references.
With the Index we have taken especial care, indicating under each name the particulars of its use, so as to enable those who consult it to know without turning to the page whether any individual case fulfils the requirements of their search.
In the running title of the baptisms we have used the spelling with which Dr. Colman heads his list. This was done inadvertently at first ; but, having been done, we concluded to let it remain.
The copy of the Manifesto which we give is that belonging to the Boston Athenæum, referred to by Dr. Lothrop in a note on page 208 of his " History of Brattle Street Church " as interesting because of having been originally the property of Benjamin Walker, one of the undertakers, and bearing his name, and because of the memoranda written upon it, of which it is impossible to say whether they are votes which Mr. Walker was intending to propose, or votes actually passed by the society, but in either case throwing light upon the sense in which two important articles of the document were intended to be received.
For the use of the plate of the picture of Dr. Colman we are indebted to the Congregational Education Society. The pictures of Mr. Cooper and his son, Dr. Cooper, are reproduced from the pictures by Smibert and Copley in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; the picture of Dr. Thacher is an enlargement of a small engraving in a number of the Polyanthos in the library of the same society ; that of Mr. Buckminster is taken from the picture by Stuart, the property of Mr. Arthur T. Lyman. For the picture of Mr. Everett, which is a copy of a photograph made from a picture by Gilbert Stuart Newton at the time he was appointed Eliot Professor of Greek at Harvard College, and considered a remarkably fine likeness, we are indebted to the courtesy of the classical department of Harvard University, and particularly of Prof. M. H. Morgan. The picture of Dr. Palfrey is copied from an oil painting in the possession of his daughters, representing him at about the time he was pastor of the church rather than in his later years ; and that of Dr. Lothrop, showing him near the close of his ministry, has been several times printed, -in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, in the History of the Massachusetts Cincinnati, and in his autobiography, printed but not published.
The views of the interior of the church are from photographs taken by Black, the well-known photographer, shortly before the demolition of
xiv
PREFACE.
the building. The picture of the old parsonage house is from a water- color in the possession of the Misses Palfrey.
The ground plan of the meeting-house and the list of proprietors of pews and the call for a church meeting are from papers in the possession of the Hon. Samuel A. Green, M.D., LL.D., who has allowed us to copy them.
ELLIS L. MOTTE. HENRY F. JENKS. JOHN HOMANS, 2d.
AUGUST, 1901.
CONTENTS.
Records
PAGE
.
3
Memoranda of Dr. Lothrop 92
List of stated communicants :
Men
95
.
Women
I02
List of communicants :
Received by Peter Thacher, pastor .
II4
Admitted during the ministry and after the decease of the Rev.
Joseph S. Buckminster.
II7
during the ministry of Rev. E. Everett
.
II7
after the departure of the Rev. Mr. Everett
IT9
during the ministry of Rev. J. G. Palfrey
I20
during the ministry of Rev. S. K. Lothrop
123
.
Baptisms :
By Dr. Colman 124 By Dr. Colman and the Coopers, father and son, from .
I36
By Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper, copied from his interleaved
almanacs by his successor, Rev. Peter Thacher
I7I
In the vacancy between the death of Dr. Cooper and the set- tlement of Mr. Thacher . 19I
By Rev. Peter Thacher . 192 By Rev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster 208
By the same at other societies
214
After the decease of the Rev. Joseph Stevens Buckminster 215
From the ordination of Rev. Edward Everett 216
After the dismissal of Mr. Everett 217
From the ordination of Rev. John G. Palfrey
219
From the installation of Rev. S. K. Lothrop
226
xvi
CONTENTS.
Marriages : PAGE
By Dr. Colman 227
By Rev. Dr. Cooper, from his interleaved almanacs 247
By Rev. Peter Thacher 256
By Rev. J. S. Buckminster
269
By Edward Everett 272
By Rev. J. G. Palfrey 272
By Rev. S. K. Lothrop 276
Deaths in the Brattle Street Society :
From Feb. 1, 1805 278
From Feb. 9, 1814 283
From June 17, 1818 . 284
From June 18, 1834 .
294
Loose sheets in Dr. Lothrop's handwriting containing lists of :
Proposed communicants 295
Baptisms
296
Marriages
297
Deaths
299
An account of all moneys received by Dr. Colman
·
301
Index : .
Part I., to the Records, pp. 1-93 . 315 Part II., to lists of communicants, baptisms, marriages, and funerals, pp. 95-314 . 339
Addenda :
Additional entries of Dr. Cooper .
441
.
Index to Addenda
445
·
Appendix
.
447
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Church in Brattle Square, erected 1773
· Frontispiece
To face page
Reduced copy of first page of the Church Book .
3
Facsimile of the Manifesto
5
Rev. Benjamin Colman, D.D.
I2
Rev. William Cooper
24
Rev. Samuel Cooper, D.D.
32
The Interior of the Meeting House : the Pulpit end
34
Notice of Parish Meeting .
36
The Interior of the Meeting House : the Organ end
38
.
Ground Plan of the Meeting House and List of Proprietors of
Pews .
40
.
Rev. Peter Thacher, D.D.
46
.
Rev. Joseph S. Buckminster
.
.
·
50
Rev. Edward Everett, D.C.L.
56
Rev. J. G. Palfrey, D.D., LL.D.
64
Parsonage House
70
Rev. S. K. Lothrop, D.D. .
84
.
RECORDS
OF THE CHURCH IN BRATTLE SQUARE BOSTON 1699-1872
١
1:
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Boston in New England. December 12. 1699.
· a Church Book.
Containing all account, Ivicanad
wrms & Woher of this Church, street, from the protests "date.
in the help of &12 of the Lon fullt in Brattle
Colinsin. Pastor.
l'aire Cousine us was) your unart, instant as a Candidate for the Evanostical litisitios,. Ing Parents & any own Choise Touches sive; The City of London, the University ore alsinally preaching Imswitch England, for about
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1099. 9 newsund Church,
of this
LAS. . " Benjamin Davis, Ar John Vico,
in the Name of the To me
1. un Warthis
perience which
This Invitation was acertified
by reason of the kind utic tac ouraging my Excellent Engines, WII John Leverer, yu Reverend Kiden Bratte
Elanozer Pemberton,. Jamon- Präsident, & other.
Bring arrived at London. august 1 1699. I asked ordination. The Prostything " there is on the Fourth Day of said Month the Solom mity was attended. after a suffic Lecture. at a Meeting house of the Rev. the Christopher Factor, to whom I was Ordained Prague wir fue Imbatalion of we Have of un Roverand Richard Thaton; John Shademan, Albert Flaming? progla,; mr.'' pate man- made 1ª Inhalation .: From many other Riverane Minister Conversation white in England, namale homes for. Jamal Willing Low Quick. Matchen Experter ( who particularly regreted to me their Absence form the city at the time of one Ofiteration, & that thing hat sich Opportunity to have fait than Hands " uson the Thomas "Coton, france Masisitt, Ku.
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einer -i'm inlove. which accompanied it from
fin absent from This
Boston in New England.
DECEMBER 12. 1699.
A Church Book.
Containing an Account, designed by the help of GOD, of the Concerns & Votes of this Church, now Erected & Setled in Brattle street, from the present date.
Recorded by BENJAMIN COLMAN, Pastor.
I HAD been Absent from this my Native Country upwards of four years, imploy'd as a Candidate for the Evangelical Ministry, to wch my Parents & my own Choice devoted me; occasionally preaching in the City of London, the University of Cambridge, & the Town of Ipswitch in England; for about the Space of two years; & then more statedly had been Ap- pointed by the Presbyterian Board at London to be the Minis- ter of y: Dissenting Congregation in the City of Bath, Sommer- setshire: When on the 19th day of July 1699, I received an Invitation from the Gentlemen the Undertakers of this Church, subscribed by M: Thomas Brattle, Cap. Benjamin Davis, M: John Mico, M: Thomas Cooper, & M: John Colman in the Name of the Rest, to come over & be their Minister; only proposing to me that the Holy Scriptures might be publicly read every Sab- bath in ye. Worship of GOD, & that they might lay aside y: Relation of Experiences which were imposed in the other Churches in the Town, in order to ye Admission of Persons to y: Lords Table.
This Invitation was accepted by me : & the more Acceptable it was by reason of the kind & Encouraging Letters which accompany'd it from my Excellent Friends ye Honble M: John Leveret, ye Reverend William Brattle, Ebenezer Pemberton, Simon Bradstreet, & others.
4
RECORDS OF THE CHURCH IN BRATTLE SQUARE.
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