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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01102 4467
THE
1
HISTORY
OF THE
1st. FIRST CHURCH, CHARLESTOWN,
IN NINE LECTURES, WITH NOTES.
BY WILLIAM I. BUDINGTON, ---
PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
" God of our fathers I while our ears Shall hear the chronicles of old -- Thy wondrous deeds in ancient years, Which sires unto their sons have told ;- May we their spirit catch, and give Ourselves, anew, to Truth and Thee ; And, like those worthies, dare to live FREEMEN IN CHRIST, the only Free !"
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
BOSTON : PUBLISHED BY CHARLES TAPPAN. 1845.
IVAWE FIOTTEW COM
1820240
30En wiefor. First Pastor of Charles town & Boston
284416 .1 D
1.
Budington, William Ives, 1815-1579.
The history of the First church, Charlestown, in : :: lectures, with notes. By William I. Badingcon ... ... ton, C. Tappan, 1845. -
:
258 p., 1 1. front. (port.) 233ªm. "Catalogue of admissions to full communio:"; p. [247]-256.
1. Charlestown, Mass. First church.
1197 Library of Congress 6 -- 15333
.
D2 844116.1
1197
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, By WILLIAM I. BUDINGTON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
Press of T. R. Marvin.
THIS VOLUME
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
TO THE
FIRST CHURCH AND CONGREGATION IN CHARLESTOWN, BY THEIR
FRIEND AND PASTOR,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
THE following Discourses were prepared in the ordi- nary course of my ministry, and delivered at a stated monthly lecture during the winter of 1842-3. It was originally my intention to condense the facts I had gathered, and publish them in a small manual ; but having delayed the execution of this purpose until the commencement of the present year, I felt unable to per- form the work of re-composition, and obliged to publish either what I had written or nothing. I have therefore revised my Lectures, and now publish them substantially as they were spoken, with a body of notes comprising the additional matter collected in the course of my investigations. I have enjoyed many pleasant hours, and been profited by many solemn reflections, while engaged in my historical studies, and feel that I have been repaid for my labor ; and if my book shall have a similar moral effect upon the people of my charge, and such others as shall honor it with a perusal, I shall be more than repaid.
I shall always remember with pleasure the courtesy and kind assistance received from the various gentlemen whom I have consulted for information or advice. My grateful acknowledgments are due to all of them, and
6
especially to Rev. William Jenks, D. D., and Rev. Samuel Sewall, as the subsequent pages will frequently show.
It will be unnecessary for me here to enumerate the sources from whence my history is derived, as these will be sufficiently indicated in the course of the work ; it is with great pleasure, however, that I confess my obliga- tions to the Hon. James Savage, not only for his valuable illustrations of Winthrop, which have thrown so much light upon our early history, but also for the encouraging interest and assistance he has afforded me in my labors. I am also indebted to Richard Frothingham, Jr., Esq., for valuable information afforded by his minute acquaint- ance with the antiquities of the town ; and trust that he will be amply encouraged in the publication of his ' History of Charlestown,' on which he is now engaged.
The likeness of Rev. John Wilson, prefixed to the volume as a frontispiece, is an accurate copy of a portrait preserved in the Rooms of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
I have only to say in conclusion to those of my friends who liave been looking for my volume for several months, that the delay has been unavoidable, and has arisen in part from the intrinsic difficulty of carrying a work of this character through the press, and in part from the pressure of other and more important duties.
CHARLESTOWN, DEC. 8, 1845.
CONTENTS.
-
LECTURE I. . Page 9
Settlement of the Town-Organization of the Church of Boston and Charlestown- Formation of the Charlestown Church-Rev. Thomas James-The Puritans.
LECTURE II. 31 Original Members of the Church-Indians-Rev. Zechariah Symmes-Dismission of Mr. James-Synod of 1637-Rev. John Harvard-Rev. Thomas Allen-Syuod of 1648-Elder John Greene-Description of Charlestown.
LECTURE III. . ·
54 Rev. Thomas Shepard-The Baptists-Synod of 1662-The Half-way Covenant- Rev. John Oxenbridge-Mr. Symmes.
LECTURE IV. . .
71 Mr. Shepard's Election Sermon-His death-Ecclesiastical Council-Rev. Thomas Shepard the third.
LECTURE V.
89 Synod of 1679-80 - Mr. Shepard's ministry and death-Rev. Charles Morton.
LECTURE VI. 106
Mr. Morton's advice to Candidates for the Ministry-His death-Rev. Simon Brad- street-Rev. Joseph Stevens-Mrs. Anne Bradstreet.
LECTURE VII. .
· .
121
Mr. Stevens's death-His character-Rev. Hull Abbot-Rev. Thomas Prentice- State of Religion-The Great Awakening.
LECTURE VIII. . . 136
Mr. Abbot's Artillery Election Sermon-His death-Battle of Bunker Hill-Death of Mr. Prentice-Rev. Joshua Paine.
LECTURE IX.
150 Rev. Dr. Morse-Unitarianism-Benefactors of the Church.
NOTES.
Note 1. Arrival of Winthrop,
" 2. Thomas Walford, . . · 168
3. Thomas Graves, ·
. . 168
4. Rev. Francis Bright,
170
5. Town Records,
. 171
" 6. Organization of the Church,
173
.
. 165
8
Note 7. John Winthrop, .
·
.
·
. 175
. 9. John Wilson, 176
u 10. William Blackstone, .
. 179
11. Inhabitants remaining in Charlestown,
179
12. Mrs. Wilson, .
# 13. Old and New Style, .
" 14. The Records and comparative age of the Church,
15. The New England Version of the Psalms, .
187
" 17. Increase Nowell,
· 190
" 18. Capt. Richard Sprague, .
192 194
" 20. Meeting House and Sabba' Day House,
195
" 21. Thomas James,
196
22. Thomas Allen, .
197
# 23. The Cambridge Platform,
" 24. Thomas Allen's Letter respecting the early Indian Missions, .
. 199
" 25. Origin of the Baptist Church,
. 200
" 26. Old South Church,
.
.
·
208
" 27. Francis Willoughby, .
·
. 208
28. Mr. Symmes,
. 209
29. Daniel Russell, .
211
" 30. Seating the Meeting House,
211
# 31. Toleration,
212
32. Epitaph of Thomas Shepard,
. 215
" 33. Oakes's Elegy,
215
" 34. Letter of Hon. J. Q. Adams,
218
" 35. Letter to the Old South Church,
. 219
" 36. Shepard's Manuscripts,
. 220
4 37. Horsey's Letter,
. 221
" 38. Morton's Publications,
. 2-22
. 223
" 40. Morton's Latin Epitaph,
· 225
41. Charlestown Lecture, .
. 226
" 42. Stevens's Private Records, .
. 227
" 43. Settlement of Mr. Prentice,
. 228
" 44. The Earthquake,
231
" 45. Abbot's Family,
· 239
46. Abbot's Publications,
. 933
47. Rev. Thomas Prentice,
. 233
=
48. Meeting House Hill,
234
" 49. Enlargement of the Meeting House,
. 235
₡ 50. Formation of the Parish,
. 237
" 51. The Tablet, .
" 52. Installation of Rev. Dr. Morse,
" 53. Harvard and Winthrop Churches,
. 239
54. Dr. Morse, .
. 240
" 55. Present Meeting House,
240
" 56. Sacramental Furniture,
. 240
57. The Russell Family,
" 58. Dea. Frothingham and Dea. Miller,
. 215
CATALOGUE OF ADMISSIONS TO FULL. COMMUNION,
. 947 .
INDEX,
. 257
.
Page 174
8. Thomas Dudley, .
.
180
. 180 183
" 16. The Spirit of the Puritans,
188
= 19. List of Deacons,
· 197
39. Mode of calling and settling Ministers,
.
238
. 239
.
242
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
LECTURE I.
PSALM xliv. 1-3.
WE HAVE HEARD WITH OUR EARS, O GOD! OUR FATHERS HAVE TOLD US, WHAT WORK THOU DIDST IN THEIR DAYS, IN THE TIMES OF OLD. HOW THOU DIDST DRIVE OUT THE HEATHEN WITH THY HAND, AND PLANTEDST THEM ; HOW THOU DIDST AFFLICT THE PEOPLE, AND CAST THEM OUT. FOR THEY GOT NOT THE LAND IN POSSESSION BY THEIR OWN SWORD, NEITHER DID THEIR OWN ARM SAVE THEM : BUT THY RIGHT HAND, AND THINE ARM, AND THE LIGHT OF THY COUNTENANCE, BECAUSE THOU HADST A FAVOR UNTO THEM.
THERE are few pursuits more pleasant and profitable than the study of History. We constitute a link which unites the past with the future, and we cannot fully understand our responsibilities, as we certainly cannot appreciate our advan- tages, without some acquaintance with the condition and services of past generations. As Christians, it is our first duty and principal happiness to know God ; and to do this we must examine his Providence as well as his Word. The command of God to his ancient people was, " Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations ; ask thy father-and he will show thee ; thy elders-and they will tell thec." Deut. xxxii. 7. And accordingly he instituted anniversaries and festivals to perpetuate the memory of his dealings with their fathers from generation to generation.
The believer in the providence of God, will find signal mani- festations of it, in the successful planting of our Pilgrim Fathers on these shores. "The Shepherd of Israel, he that led Joseph like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron," guided our fathers over the waters, and gave them in possession "this goodly heritage." If it be instructive therefore to study the history of ancient Israel, it cannot be otherwise to contemplate
2
1
1
10
the dealings of the same God with his chosen people of New England. And while we are pursuing the history of our Church for more than two centuries, I trust we shall find it profitable to converse with the pious dead, 'into whose labors we are entered,' and whose names deserve to be held in lasting honor, as well by the inhabitants of the town, as the members of the church. In giving a history of this church, we must begin with the settlement of the town.
It was in the month of June, 1630,1 that Winthrop, the Father of Massachusetts, first trod our soil. The Arbella, in which he had crossed the Atlantic, arrived at Salem on the 12th of the month ; and by the beginning of July the whole fleet had arrived, and the colonists began a permanent settle- ment in this place. But Winthrop and his companions were not the first settlers here. Two years before, in the summer of 1628,2 Ralph Sprague, with his brothers Richard and William, together with three or four more, undertook a journey from Salem, and after travelling to the westward through the woods about twelve miles, they lighted upon this place. "Upon surveying," our town records say, " they found it was a neck of land, generally full of stately timber, and the country round about an uncouth wilderness." This peninsula was at that time full of Indians, who bore the pleasing name of Aberginians, and whose chief John Sagamore gave the new comers, " a free consent to settle about this hill."
But the Spragues again were not the first occupants of the soil, for they found here a single individual living alone,3 Thomas Walford by name, a smith,-he occupied a house, that was " thacht and palisadoed," and situated on the southern slope of this hill, a "little way np from the side of Charles River." Thomas Walford, therefore, was the first white inhabitant of this soil.
The following year, in June, 1629,4 Mr. Thomas Graves,5 an experienced engineer, came from Salem, with about 100 of the Company's servants, and began to make preparation for the arrival of the colonists. He found here ten inhabitants including the four already mentioned ; and these, together with
I See Note 1.
2 Prince's Chronology, and Town Records
3 Note 2.
4 Prince's Chron. p. 261.
5 Note 3.
11
the Rev. Thomas Bright,1 minister to the Company's servants, are spoken of in our town records as being the first who settled in this place, and brought it into the denomination of an English town.
Mr. Graves built for the use of the Company, who were shortly to come over, a large house called " the Great House," which afterwards became the first meeting-house of this church. He also laid out the streets around the Town Hill, and meas- ured out to each inhabitant a two acre lot, after which they began to build their houses and prepare their fences. It was also agreed upon to change the name of the place from Misha- wum, by which it was known among the Indians, to Charles- town.2 But it is not my design to give an account of the settlement of the town; this has already been done by a gen- tleman,3 who is preparing a History of the Town, in a manner that will leave nothing to be desired on this subject.
Such is a brief outline of the transactions which had taken place on this soil, when Winthrop landed with his company. We shall be enabled by it to form some idea of the welcome that awaited them on their arrival. They were about 1,500 in number, and the spot which they were to make their home must have looked dreary indeed. It was wearing its primitive and savage appearance, except in the immediate neighborhood of this hill. The primeval forest of oak trees, which had for unrecorded ages covered the peninsula, was still casting its shadows around them, except where the axe of Walford and the Spragues had let the sun in upon this eminence. The Governor and some of the patentees were accommodated in the Great House ; but no hospitalities were or could have been afforded to the great majority. They accordingly erected booths and tents of cloth about the hill, and laid themselves down upon the cold and dewy ground to sleep. They had had a long passage over the Atlantic ; some of the ships were seven- teen, and some eighteen weeks, in coming. But the hearts of the Pilgrims were so rejoiced by the safe arrival of their fleet, that the Sth of July was set apart by general consent both here and at Salem, as a day of thanksgiving to God. And now, forgetting their past trials, and their present destitute condition,
J Note 4. 2 Note 5.
3 Richard Frothingham, Jr., Esq.
i
£
12
they had both time and heart for the expression and cultivation of gratitude. We look back over the lapse of more than two hundred years, and as we behold this trusting and rejoicing band of Pilgrims upon this hill, on the 8th July, 1630, we feel that the beautiful stanzas of Mrs. Hemans are not more true to feeling than to history.
" Not as the conquerer comes, They the true-hearted came, Not with the roll of the stirring drums, And the trumpet that sings of fame ;
Not as the flying come, In silence and in fear,- They shook the depths of the desert's glooin With their hymns of lofty cheer.
Amidst the storm they sang, And the stars heard and the sea !
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free ! There were men with hoary hair, Amidst that pilgrim band-
Why had they come to wither there, Away from their childhood's land ?
There was woman's fearless eye, Lit by her deep love's truth ; There was manhood's brow serenely high, And the fiery heart of youth. What sought they thus afar ? Bright jewels of the mine ? The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? -They sought a faith's pure shrine !
Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where first they trod ! They have left unstain'd what there they found- Freedom to worship God!"
But a wild and savage home was not the only welcome of the Pilgrims. They disembarked from their vessels, many of them sick from long confinement on ship-board, and their sickness was greatly aggravated by their lodgings on the damp ground, and want of protection against the weather.
" And although," say our town records, "the people were loving and pitiful, yet the sickness did so prevail, that the whole were not able to tend the sick as they should be tended, upon which many perished and died, and were buried about
13
the Town Hill." And thus the first spot they made their home, became to many of them their grave.
To add to their distress, their provisions were growing scarce. Much of their supplies had been damaged during the voyage ; much wasted in consequence of the prevailing siek- ness ; many had neglected to make adequate supplies, owing to a report which prevailed in England when they left, that there was now abundance in New England ; and besides this, the season was so far advanced, that they could expect nothing from planting. Under these circumstances the Governor despatched Capt. William Pearce, with a ship of 200 tons, to the coast of Ireland to purchase provisions.
It would be difficult to estimate the discouraging effect which these things had upon the minds of the people. Leaving as they did an old and populous country like England, where they had been accustomed to the unnumbered conveniences which are the result of the labor of many generations, and which we learn to appreciate only when deprived of them, they must have been in a great measure unconscious of what awaited them here, and but poorly prepared, saving in faith and patience, for the hardships of a settlement in the wilder- ness. The sufferings endured by the earliest emigrants to the new lands of the West, may give us some idea of the nature of the privations to which our fathers were subjected, but not of the number and magnitude of their sacrifices.
These distressing circumstances, however, did not deter the Pilgrims from organizing a church, but rather hastened the execution of their purpose.1 The 30th of July was observed as a day of fasting and prayer, and after appropriate religious services, Gov. Winthrop, Dep. Gov. Dudley, Mr. Isaac Johnson, and Rev. John Wilson, subscribed the following church cov- enant.
" In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in obedience to his holy, wise, and divine ordinances :
" We, whose names are here underwritten, being by his most wise and good providence brought together into this part of America, in the Bay of Massachusetts ; and desirous to unite into one congregation or church, under the Lord Jesus Christ,
Note 6
14
our head, in such sort as becometh all those whom he hath redeemed, and sanctified to himself, do hereby solemnly and religiously, as in his most holy presence, promise and bind ourselves to walk in all our ways according to the rule of the Gospel, and in all sincere conformity to his holy ordinances, and in mutual love and respect to each other, so near as God shall give us grace."
Of the four highly distinguished individuals who entered first into this covenant, it is unnecessary that I should say much ; they were not only the founders of the Church, but also of the Commonwealth, and their history is inseparably united with that of Massachusetts.
John Winthrop, the first Governor of Massachusetts, and the first who signed the church covenant, was descended of respect- able ancestors, who were distinguished for learning as well as attachment to the reformed religion under the reign of Henry VIII. and Queen Mary. He received an accomplished legal education, and was possessed of a large estate of 6 or £700 per annum, the whole of which he invested in the settlement of New England. He was highly esteemed and greatly be- loved by his cotemporaries ; and he will never cease to be reverenced and admired by the sons of New England for his honor, generosity, and Christian principle. When he removed from England he was about forty-three years of age.1
Thomas Dudley, the Deputy Governor, had served under Queen Elizabeth as a soldier in France, and was subsequently distinguished for his prudent management of the large estates of the Earl of Lincoln ; but becoming attached to the Non- conforming interest, he came to this country in the 54th year of his age. He was for many years Deputy Governor, and was at length chosen Governor, which office he sustained four years.2
Isaac Johnson, Esq., the third subscriber, was a gentleman of great amiableness, and enjoyed in an eminent degree the confidence and affection of the people. He was possessed of a considerable fortune, and had married the Lady Arbella, a daughter of the Earl of Lincoln.
The Rev. John Wilson, the first pastor of the Church, was
1 Note 7.
2 Note 8.
0
15
one of the most humble, pious and benevolent men of the age. His ancestors had been eminent in the Church of England. His father was a clergyman of distinguished rank in the reign of Elizabeth, and by his mother he was related to Dr. Grindal, the excellent Archbishop of Canterbury.1
On the 1st August, Increase Nowell, Esq. and four others united with the church, and signed the covenant, and soon their number amounted to sixty-four men, and half as many women.
On the 23d August,2 the first General Court, or Court of Assistants as it was then called, was held,-probably in the Great House. The record of that meeting is interesting, as an exhibition of the spirit of the colonists. Religion was the object of their first solicitude, while as yet they had their houses to build, and means to provide of subsistence for the approaching winter, and of defence against savage enemies. The first question proposed was, how the ministers should be maintained ? And it was ordered that houses be built for them with convenient speed, at the public charge ;- Sir Rich- ard Saltonstall undertaking to see it done for Mr. Phillips at Watertown, and the Governor at this place for Mr. Wilson. In addition to this, their salaries were fixed at £30 a year.
On the 27th August,2 another fast was observed, and the church duly organized by the appointment of the proper offi- cers; these were a Teacher, Pastor, Ruling Elder, and Deacons. To define the duties assigned to each as briefly as possible ; the province of the teacher was to explain and defend the doctrines of Scripture,-that of the pastor was to exhort and apply the precepts of Scripture to practice,-the ruling elder was to attend to the discipline of the church, and the duties of the deacons were substantially then what they now are.
Mr. Wilson was chosen teacher, Mr. Nowell ruling elder, and Messrs. Gager and Aspinwall deacons. These were all several- ly set apart to their offices by the imposition of hands ; with the explicit statement and understanding, however, that it did not imply, so far as Mr. Wilson was concerned, the renunci- ation of the ordination he had received in England.3
Thus was organized the third church in New England,- a society which became the fountain-head of influence-and
1 Note 9. 2 Prince's Chron.
3 Winthrop's Journal.
16
an object of profound reverence and affection. Its officers and members were the leading men of the colony. "Some have been heard to say," says Hubbard, "they believed it to be the most glorious church in the world." 1
In the month of August many of the colonists removed across the river, and in a short time the Governor and a majority of the inhabitants were residing on the other side of Charles river. The principal cause which led to this removal, was the want of running springs of water. The notion pre- vailed that "no water was good for a town but running springs." 2 and they were at that time acquainted with but one spring in this place, which, being situated in the sand, along the margin of Charles river, was for the most part brackish, and inadequate to supply the wants of the people. At this juncture Mr. William Blackstone,3 who was then living alone in a cottage on the Boston side, acquainted the Governor with the existence of an excellent spring on that side and solicited him to remove thither. In addition to this, the sickness of the people still continued, and numbers were dying, and by many this was attributed to the unhealthiness of the place.
Mr. Gager, the newly appointed deacon, died on the 1st of September, of a fever. He is spoken of by Governor Dudley, as "a right godly man, and skilful chirurgeon." But the spirits of the Pilgrims were especially affected by the death of Mr. Isaac Johnson, which took place on the 30th of September. He was so highly esteemed by the people, that his death was looked upon by many as almost involving the failure of their undertaking.
There are few passages in the early history of New England more affecting than the death of the Lady Arbella and her de- voted husband. "She came," says Hubbard, " from a paradise of pleasure and plenty, in the family of a noble Earl, into a wil- derness of wants, and although celebrated for her many virtues, was unable to stem the tide of adversities she saw herself surrounded with, and in about a month after her arrival, she ended her days at Salem, where she first landed." It were hard to add, as he does, that she was " one who possibly had not taken the counsel of our Saviour, to sit down and think what
1 Hubb. Hist. p. 280.
2 Town Records.
3 Note 10.
17
the cost would be before she began to build." Sadly and solemnly did the Fathers surround her grave; and it was only a month after, that they made a grave for her sorrowful husband, on the upper end of his lot in Boston, which extended to what is now Tremont street. He died " in sweet peace,"-rejoicing that he had seen the church of Christ gath- ered before his death. The spot where he was laid became holy ground-the first burying place of the Pilgrims-and as they died they requested that their bodies might be laid beside his. This is the burying place which adjoins the Stone Chapel.
" The grief of this people was further increased," says John- son, " by the sore sickness which befel amongst them, so that almost in every family, lamentation, mourning, and woe was heard, and no fresh food to be had to cherish them, it would. surely have moved the most lockt up affections to tears no doubt, had they passed from one hut to another, and beheld the piteous case these people were in."1 The mortality from which they suffered may be judged of, from the estimate they have left us that two hundred at least died between the time of their setting sail from England in April and the month of December following.2
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