USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Contributions to the ecclesiastical history of Essex County, Mass., 1865 > Part 9
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HISTORY OF ESSEX NORTH ASSOCIATION.
care and blessing of the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, be kept united in the faith, fellowship, and hope of the Gospel, and in due time be happily resettled.
SAMUEL LANGDON, Church in
JONATHAN TILTON, S Hampton Falls.
SAMUEL MACCLINTOCK, Church WILLIAM HAINS, S in Greenland.
Newbury, April 28, 1784.
It is evident from papers still existing, that there was dissatisfaction with Mr. Noble on the part of the parish, and during his last years le had perplexing pecuniary embarrassments.
In the year 1776, he was absent eleven months as chaplain in the army. The following is an extract from the Hist. Sermon of Rev. D. T. Fiske, present pastor of the church in Belleville. Speaking of Mr. Noble he says, -
" He is represented as a man of fine, commanding person, tall and well-proportioned, noble in figure as well as in name, although negligent, and even slovenly in his attire. Mounted upon a skeleton of a horse, called ' Mr. Noble's frame,' and wrapped in a long dressing-gown, he at- tracted no little attention as he rode from house to house in the oversight of lis flock."
As a preacher, he is said to have possessed more than ordinary gifts. Three of his published sermons are extant. But his preaching does not seem to have been seconded by a wholly unexceptionable character and life. The remark made of another divine was applied to him, namely : "That when you saw him in the pulpit, you would think he never ought to be out of it ; and when you saw him out of it, you would think he never ought to be in it."
From some papers which we have examined, relating to pecuniary transactions, our judgment is, that the faults of Mr. Noble arose rather from temperament and carelessness than deliberate intention.
He was installed at New Castle, N. H., Aug. 18, 1784, where he re- mained until his death, which occurred Dec. 15, 1792, aged 58.
The following is an extract from a letter of Rev. Lucius Alden of New Castle, N. H., respecting his ministry in that place.
" Tradition represents him as evangelical in sentiment, and quite ac- ceptable as a preacher of the gospel. His personal appearance was good, portly, genteel. In his habits very social, - frequently visiting the families of his flock, and freely participating in their hospitalities. If his ministry was not marked with distinguished success, it should be recollected that he labored under considerable discouragements. The people had been destitute of a pastor some six years, several of the church and parish had become Baptists, among whom was Rev. Benja-
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min Randall, founder of the Free Will Baptist societies in New IIamp- shire. Some had removed from fear of the British fleet, and the pecuni- ary embarrassments of the people were severe."
Mr. Noble died after a short sickness. His remains rest in the grave- yard, opposite the church, in New Castle, N. H. No monument marks the place of his burial, but within the church, in the year 1852, a beautiful mural monument was erected to his memory and that of his five prede- cessors in the ministry of that ancient town.
The inscription is as follows :
Rev. John Emerson died Jan. 21, 1732, aged 62. Rev. William Shurtleff died May 9, 1747, aged 58. . Rev. John Blunt died Aug. 7, 1748, aged 42. Rev. David Robinson died Nov. 18, 1749, aged 33. Rev. Stephen Chuse died Jan. 1778, aged 72. Rev. Oliver Noble died Dec. 15, 1792, aged 56.
Pastors of this Church. The memory of the just is blessed.
Mr. Noble was married May 15, 1760, to Lucy Weld, daughter of Rev. Habijah and Mary (Fox) Weld, of Attleboro, Mass. She was born June 15, 1734, and died in Newbury, May 23, 1781, aged 46.
Their children were, -
1. Habijah Weld, b. Feb. 5, 1761, at Coventry, Ct .; died unmar. in Marietta, Ohio, May -, 1816, aged 55.
2. Lucy, b. Oct. 7, 1762, at Coventry, Ct. ; m. Henry Collins, and d. in Broom, L. Canada, about 1806, aged ab. 44.
3. Oliver, b. Oct. 14, 1764; d. Jan. 30, 1766, aged 1.
4. Tirzah, b. April 18, 1766.
5. Sarah, b. Sept. 24, 1768; m. 1788, Wm. Allen, Jr. of New Castle, N. HI., and d. in South Berwick, Me., July 5, 1818, aged 49.
6. Fanny, b. April 9, 1771 ; m. 1. Jonathan Blake, Jr., 2. - Bickford.
7. Eunice, b. Nov. 24, 1773; m. David Thacher, and d. in Philadel- phia, Pa., Dee. 1, 1842, aged 69.
8. Hannah, b. Oct. 3, 1775 ; d. unmar. aged ab. 28.
9. Elizabeth, b. Feb. 28, 1779 ; m. Dr. - Tribet. All but the first two named were born in Newbury.
The publications of Mr. Noble are, -
1. Sermon at the Ordination of Mr. Silas Moody, in Arundel, Jan- uary 9, 1771.
2. Sermon on Music, preached at the North Meeting-house, New- buryport, Feb. 8, 1774.
3. Strictures upon the Sacred Story recorded in the Book of Esther, showing the power and oppression of State Ministers, tending to the ruin 10
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HISTORY OF ESSEX NORTH ASSOCIATION.
and destruction of God's people. And the remarkable interpositions of Divine Providence, in favor of the oppressed ; in a Discourse delivered at Newburyport, North Meeting-house, March 8, 1775. In Commemo - ration of the Massacre, at Boston, March 5, 1770.
4. Sermon at the Funeral of his Wife, June 3, 1781.
CHRISTOPHER BRIDGE MARSH,
The first pastor of the North Church in Newburyport, was born in Boston, Oct. 11, 1743 ; and was the only son of Dea. Daniel Marsh. He was admitted a member of Harvard College in the fourteenth year of his age, and graduated in 1761. He officiated about three years as chaplain at Castle William, where his ministry was apparently blessed to the spiritual good of a number whose reformation was visible while he was there.
"Resolved, That there be allowed, and paid out of the public treasury, the sum of forty pounds to Mr. Christopher Bridge Marsh, Chaplain at his Majesty's Castle William. for one year, in consideration of his faithful discharge of that trust." - Mass. Jour., Feb. 11, 1767, p. 270.
The following is the vote in regard to the call of Mr. Marsh to the North Parish.
" Whereas we have made choice, and called Mr. Christopher Bridge Marsh to settle with us in the work of the ministry : for his encourage- ment to undertake and engage therein, we will pay him one hundred pounds lawful money per year for four years ensuing, together with a free contribution ; after which time is expired, for Mr. Marsh's encourage- ment, it was voted to give him one hundred and twenty pounds law- ful money per year, together with the free contribution, during his con- tinuance with us in the ministry." - Records.
The following obituary is from the Massachusetts Gazette, Dec. 20, 1773.
" NEWBURYPORT, December 15, 1773.
"On Friday, the 3d instant, departed this life, and on the 7th was decently interred, the remains of the Rev. Christopher Bridge Marsh, aged 30, pastor of the North Congregational Church in this town. He was of a studious and contemplative turn of mind from his childhood. He was ordained Oct. 19, 1768, at the unanimous desire of the church and congregation. He was richly furnished with ministerial gifts and accomplishments. He had a penetrating mind, ready invention, and a solid judgment. He thought justly and reasoned correctly. He had not only a peculiar talent in preaching, but was greatly gifted in prayer.
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The great doctrines of the Gospel were the chief subjects he dwelt on in his public discourses. He came into his subject with ease and readiness ; his language was plain yet manly, striking, and expressive. IIe was remarkably free from ostentation, and his conduct was such as plainly evinced that he strove to recommend, not himself, but the truth, for the honor of God and the salvation of souls. His whole deportment in the pulpit was grave and solemn. In a word, his preaching was calculated, both as to matter and manner, to enlighten the mind, awaken the con- science, affect the heart, and lead the hearers into a knowledge of them- selves and the way of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ ; and that he was influenced by the truth he preached to others, was evident from the constant practice of the duties which he urged upon them. His people lay very near his heart, for whom he entertained a very affectionate regard, mixed with a tender concern for their temporal as well as eternal welfare. He was confined about two months, and for most of the time too weak to admit much company. Ilis mind was considerably impaired for some time in his sickness, but, for a few days before his death, God was pleased to favor him with the free use of his reason ; and, notwithstand- ing his great weakness, he manifested great patience and calmness. He was so far from discovering a dread of death, that, on the other hand, he expressed a cheerful resignation to the will of God, a pleasure and satis- faction in the prospect of his approaching dissolution. Very few who have acted in a public character have conducted so worthily, or with so amiable a simplicity and godly sincerity. By his death his flock has lost an excellent pastor, his father a dutiful son, the neighboring ministers an affectionate brother, and the community a useful member."
Mr. Marsh bequeathed his Library to the church at his decease, to be kept for the use and benefit of their pastors in all subsequent times. It is a small collection of books, but some are rare and valuable.
After his death, his congregation published " Two Practical Discourses of the Rev. Christopher Bridge Marsh, late pastor of the North Congre- gational Church in Newburyport." (Svo, pp. 48. Newburyport, 1794.)
The communication of the Rev. Moses Hale of Newbury to the Essex Journal, published soon after the death of Mr. Marsh, was printed with these sermons as a preface. In this there is a happy delineation of his character by a neighbor and an associate; in spirit it is very similar to the obituary published in the Massachusetts Gazette. It is an evidence of the tenderness with which his memory was cherished, that this notice of his character, and two of his manuscript sermons, should have been published by his parishioners twenty years after his decease.
The following is the inscription upon the slab that covers his grave:
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HISTORY OF ESSEX NORTH ASSOCIATION.
Underneath are the remains of the
REV. CHRISTOPHER BRIDGE MARSH,
the worthy and only Son of Deacon Daniel Marsh, of Boston ; and the much beloved and lamented Pastor of the North Congregational Church, in this town. He exchanged this mortal for an endless life, December 3d, 1773, aged 30 years and 2 months,
having a little more than completed the fifth year of his ministry. Ile was a hard student, a good scholar, and a great Christian ; a deep yet plain and pungent preacher ; a benevolent, meek, humble, prudent pastor; his whole life blameless and exemplary, his death peaceful.
His ministry, though short, was important, conveying much instruction and bearing noble testimony to the great doctrines of God's Grace. His grateful flock, To show their just respect for him, To his memory erect This Monument.
JOSEPHI DANA,
Was the son of Joseph and Mary Dana, and was born at Pomfret, Conn., November 2 (O. S.), 1742. Ilis father was a respectable inn- keeper in that town. Among the recollections of his boyhood was the famous adventure of General Putnam with the wolf, which took place not far from his father's residence. He remembered to have seen the animal, which had spread so much terror through the neighborhood, dragged into the entry of their house, and to have run up stairs with other children, that they might feel the less terror in looking at it.
It having been determined that he should receive a liberal education, he was fitted for Yale College, where he was admitted as a member in 1756, and was graduated in 1760. Resolved to devote himself to the Christain ministry, he pursued a course of theological study under the direction of Rev. Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Hart of Preston, Conn., and was licensed to preach by the Association, of which Mr. H. was a member, in May, 1763, before he was twenty-one. He supplied the pulpit of the Old South Church in Boston with much acceptance for six months, and would, it is said, have received an invitation to a permanent settlement there, but that his voice was thought scarcely adequate to fill so large a building. He was subsequently invited to Ipswich, and, having remained
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there as a candidate for a year or more, he received a call from the church and society to become their pastor. He accepted the call, and was ordained on the 7th of November, 1765, - the ordination sermon .being preached by the Rev. Moses Parsons of Byfield.
The early part of his ministry, of course fell into the tempestuous period of the Revolution. Though he kept within the appropriate sphere of a Christain minister, he showed himself the decided advocate of liberty, and labored in every suitable way for the promotion of his country's interests. In 1801, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard College. The same year he preached the Annual Sermon before the Convention of Congregational Ministers in Massachusetts. The frequent demands that were made for his labors on public occasions, were sufficient evidence of the high estimation in which he was held, not only by his brethren in the ministry, but by the community at large.
Dr. Dana preached a sermon on the sixtieth anniversary of his ordi- nation, at the age of eighty-three, -in which he stated, that all who were heads of families, at the time of his settlement, were deceased, ex- cept five ; and that he had followed about nine hundred of his parish- ioners to the grave.
He after expressed the desire that he might not survive his usefulness ; and this desire was signally granted. Though the infirmities of age had crept over him, diminishing somewhat his ability to labor and to endure, yet he continued in the regular discharge of his duties as a minister until within a few days of his death, which occurred on the 16th of November, 1827.
His funeral was on the 19th, and an appropriate sermon was preached on the occasion by the Rev. Robert Crowell, D. D., which was pub- lished.
Dr. Dana was first married Sept. 3, 1766, to Mary Staniford, dau. of Daniel and Mary (Burnham) Staniford, of Ipswich, and daughter-in-law of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers. She died May 14, 1772, in the twenty-eighth year of her age.
Their children were, -
1. Mary, b. June 26, 1767 ; m. Maj. Thomas Burnliam.
2. Joseph, b. June 10, 1769 ; grad. D. C. 1788 ; approbated June 9, 1795 ; taught a school in Newburyport, and studied law; removed to Athens, Ohio, 1817 ; was Prof. of Ancient Languages in Ohio Univer- sity, from 1822 to 1835 ; d. Nov. 18, 1849, aged 80 ; m. 1. Lucy Temple, May 31, 1805 ; m. 2. Hannah Lyons, ab. 1819.
3. Daniel, b. July 24, 1771 ; grad. D. C. 1788; approbated May 14, 1793; ord. first Presb. Ch., Newburyport, Nov. 19, 1794 ; dis. to take the Presidency of D. C. Nov. 19, 1820 ; resigned his office 1821 : inst.
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Presb. Ch., Londonderry, N. H., Jan. 16, 1822; dis. April -, 1826 ; inst. Second Presb. Ch., Newburyport, May 31, 1826 ; dis. Oct. 29, 1845; d. Aug. 26, 1859 ; m. 1. Elizabeth Coombs, Dec. 30, 1800; m. 2. Saralı Emery, Nov. 8, 1814.
Dr. Dana was married a second time, June 6, 1775, to Miss Mary Turner, dau. of Samuel and - -- Turner of Boston. She died April 13, 1803. in her fifty-third year. Prof. Tappan of H. U. preached her funeral sermon (which was published), in which he describes her as a person of uncommon excellence and loveliness. Their children were, -
4. Elizabeth, b. Nov. 6, 1776 ; d. July 21, 1816 ; unmarried.
5. Samuel, b. May 7, 1778; grad. H. U. 1796 ; approbated May -- , 1800 ; ord. Marblehead, Oct. 6, 1801; m. 1. Susannah Coombs, m. 2. Henrietta Bridge. Feb. 28, 1808.
6. Sarah, b. May 6, 1780; m. Hon. Israel Thorndike of Boston.
7. Abigail, b. March 14, 1782 ; d. May 15, 1840.
8. Anna, b. Nov. 2, 1784.
9. Lucy, born and died the same day.
Dr. Dana was married a third time, Dec. - , 1803, to Elizabeth, widow of Rev. Ebenezer Bradford of Rowley, and daughter of Rev. Jacob Green of Hanover, N. J.
The following is a list of his publications :
Two Discourses from Proverbs 15: 8, on the Sacrifice of the Wicked, 1728. A Sermon at the Ordination of David Smith, 1795. A Sermon on the National Thanksgiving, 1791. Two Sermons on the National Fast, 1799. A Discourse on the death of Washington, 1800. A Ser- mon before the Convention of Ministers, 1801. A Sermon at the Ordi- nation of Samuel Dana, 1801. A Sermon before the Merrimac Humane Society, 1804. A Lecture on Baptism, 1806. A Sermon on the worth and loss of the Soul, 1807. Integrity explained and recommended, - A Sermon before an Association, 1807. The question of war with Great Britain, 1808. A. Sermon at the Ordination of Joshua Dodge, 1808. Two Sermons on a Special Occasion, Jan. 14, 1810. A Sermon on the Calamity at Richmond, 1812. A Sermon before the Society for promot- ing Christian Knowledge, 1812. A Sermon before the Essex Auxiliary Education Society, 1816. A Sermon on the death of Rev. Joseph Mc- Kean, D. D., 1818. A Thanksgiving Sermon, 1820. A Sermon on the Sixtieth Anniversary of his Ordination, 1825. A Discourse on the fifty-first Anniversary of American Independence, 1827.
To these may be added, -
A Charge at the Ordination of the Rev. Joseph Emerson, 1803. Right Hand of Fellowship at the Ordination of D. T. Kimball, 1806. Charge at the Ordination of Messrs Smith and Kinsbury, Missionaries,
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1815. Charge at the ordination of Daniel Fitz, 1826. Also, many com- munications in periodical publications, both in prose and poetry.
" Dr. Dana the elder was a small, active man, quick in his motions, a respectable scholar, well acquainted with English literature, had a fine taste, and his sermons were generally crowded with thought, though his utterance was very defective. He was a Calvinist of the old formula, rather opposed to the Hopkinsian School; and, as it has been said, that the Calvinists were verging to Antinomianism, this is not true of Dr. Dana, except that he had an exaggerated view of the use of the means of grace, as they were called, in which he differed from his contemporary, Dr. Spring. That he had no Arminian propensities an anecdote may show, which was once brought out in the Association, in a conversation between himself and Dr. Spring. Dana, in his youth, was preaching for Dr. Chauncey in the Old Brick Church, Boston, and in his fervor was crossing the track of the old pastor, who sat behind him in the pulpit. The old gentleman became impatient, pulled him by the coat, and whis- pered, 'Young man, you had better stop, or you go too far,' or some such warning.
" Dr. Dana was married a third time to the widow of Rev. Mr. Brad- ford of Rowley, and sister of Dr. Green of Philadelphia. The marriage was not a happy one, - they separated. Incompatibility of temper was the reason ; and it should be added, that whatever blame the council that was called put upon the venerable husband, all who knew the circum- stances agreed, that his subsequent conduct to the wife, who refused to live with him, was generous, forbearing, noble, and Christian to the last degree. He was an irritable man, but by no means an unkind one. Honestius putabat offendere quam odisse." - L. W.
DAVID TAPPAN,
The second pastor of the Fourth Church in Newbury, now the Second Church in West Newbury, was the son of Rev. Benjamin and Elizabeth (Marsh) Tappan, and was born in Manchester, Mass., April 21, 1752. His father was a graduate of H. U. in 1742, and was ordained at Man- chester, Dec. 11, 1745, and died there, May 6, 1790, aged 69. His mother was Abigail Marsh of Haverhill.
Their son gave early indications of unusual promise. He pursued his studies, preparatory to college, in part with his father, and in part under the tuition of Master Samuel Moody, at Dummer Academy. He was admitted to H. U. at the age of 14, and graduated in 1771. During the third year of his collegiate life, a severe sickness, which brought him to a
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HISTORY OF ESSEX NORTH ASSOCIATION.
near view of death, was the means of such awakening and convictions as he had not known before, and was followed some months after with such views of mind and actings of heart in divine things, as gave a new direc- tion even to his unblamed and comparatively innocent life.
After leaving college he devoted himself to the study of theology for more than two years, though occasionally employed in teaching school. He was ordained pastor of the Third Church and Parish in Newbury, April 18, 1774. The parish voted to give Mr. Tappan yearly the sum of 80 pounds, and the use and improvement of the parsonage, with the buildings (they had just voted to erect a housea nd barn upon the par- sonage land). Afterwards the parish voted to give Mr. Tappan one hundred and thirty three pounds, six shillings and eight pence, as a settle- ment in case he would release them from building the house and barn, to which proposal Mr. T. consented.
"Oct. 24, 1781. The Parish voted Mr. Tappan 80 pounds for a salary, in silver or gold, or in the produce of the earth in the following articles, at the following prices : corn at three shillings and four pence per bushel ; pork at four pence per pound ; beef at two pence halfpenny per pound ; flax at eight pence per pound ; butter at eight pence per pound ; wheat at six shillings and eight pence per bushel ; rye at four shillings and eight pence per bushel.
"In 1779, Mr. Tappan was voted sixteen hundred pounds of the present currency."
Mr. Tappan was, from the first, considered a very able and attractive preacher. He published the sermons preached the Sabbath after his or- dination, giving, as a reason. " that a sermon of mine preached to my own people, on some occasion that deeply interests their feelings, and printed by their request, will be eagerly read by them, when another sermon, on a similar occasion, and preached by a stranger a hundred miles distant, though it were far better than mine, would probably not be read at all." Acting upon a similar principle, he printed more occa- sional sermons than almost any other clergyman of his day.
Dr. Daniel Dana says of him, " the pulpit was his throne. His ser- mons were replete with evangelical truth ; they exhibited seriousness of spirit, depth of thought, richness of imagery, coolness in argumentative discussion, impassioned tenderness of address, purity and splendor of diction, and all in no common degree. His manner in the pulpit was perfectly simple, and unstudied, and unadorned, but full of meaning and force."
Mr. Tappan was an eminent example of piety, and of all the Christian virtues. The religion which he inculcated from the desk, so beautiful, so heavenly, breathed in his spirit, and shone out in his life.
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During his pastorate of eighteen years and four months, forty-nine persons were added to the church, all by profession.
In June, 1792, the Corporation and Overseers of Harvard College harmoniously invited him to the office of Hollis Professor of Divinity. The question was submitted to an ecclesiastical council, convened Sept. 6, 1792, and it was unanimously voted that duty and the general inter- est of religion required his removal. His people were very unwilling to give him up. The church passed the following votes in regard to his leaving :
1. " Voted, that we will not oppose his dismission from us, but quietly leave him to act according to his own sense of duty in the case.
2. " That we can give our testimony in favor of his publie ministra- tions and private behavior since lie has been with us, excepting his late act in leaving a united people, which some of us cannot see to be agree- able to the will of God. Nevertheless, as he has repeatedly and solemnly declared, that he thinks himself bound in conscience to accept the invita- tion of the college, we think ourselves obliged, by the rules of Christian charity, to believe that he speaks the truth, and acts conscientiously in this matter, and we accordingly recommend him to the charity and fel- lowship of the First Church of Christ in Cambridge, and to all other Christian people where Providence may occasionally call him."
He was inaugurated Dec. 26, 1792. The honorary degree of D. D. was conferred on him by the college in 1794.
Dr. Tappan discharged the duties of his professorship for nearly ten years with great and growing acceptance, and was constantly gaining in reputation and influence. He was the last evangelical divine who filled the Hollis Professorship before the control of the college passed into the hands of the Unitarians. He died August 27, 1803, aged 51.
The following obituary notice was published in the Columbian Centinel, Aug. 31, 1803 :
" At Cambridge, on Saturday last, the Rev. David Tappan, D. D., Hollis Professor of Divinity in Harvard College, Æ. 51. Previous to their interment, his remains were carried to the meeting-house, preceded by the students, and followed by a dignified and respectable procession, where, after prayer by the Rev. Dr. Lathrop, a sermon was delivered by the Rev. Abiel Holmes, from Acts 2 : 24 - 'For he was a good man.' We have not received any account of the societies of which the deceased was a member, nor of his publications; but would be grateful to any correspond- ent who would make the communication.
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