USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Bradford > History of Bradford, Mass., from the earliest period to the close of 1820 > Part 4
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elders. His ministry was attended with great success both in animating and quickening and edifying profes- sors, and in awakening sinners, two or three consider- able revivals took place during his ministry. In 1720, sixty-four were added to the church, forty-six of whom in three months, and twenty-five in one day, and there was but one year which passed without considerable ac- cessions to the fold of Christ. Two hundred and sev- enty-three were received in the communion during his ministry. And on the 11th of June, two hundred and thirty-four persons united in commemorating their once crucified, but now risen Saviour, which number consid- ering there were then but about two hundred families in town, I apprehend must have been very large even in those better days. Four hundred and seventy-four were baptized by him, and eighty-seven couples married. He died October 6th, 1725, aged 48, and the town voted fifty pounds to defray his funeral charges and continued for some time his salary to his widow. Besides those already mentioned, Mr. Symmes preached a sermon which he published. He also wrote and published an account of the fight at Pigwaket .*
Upon his tomb stone is the following Inscription.
Rev. Thomas Symmes died October the 6th, 1725, aged 48. He was an eminent christian, very lovely in his life, and every way an accomplished minister, of great industry, fidelity and concern for the generation after, saying, while I live I will seek their good, when I die write on my grave, here lies one who loved and sought the good of the rising generation.
In November following Mr. S. death, the town ap- pointed Dea. Haseltine and Richard Bailey a committee to supply the pulpit, who engaged for this purpose Mr. Joseph Parsons, of Brookfield, to whom the church, af- ter a time of trial, gave a call to settle with them in
* The memoirs of the life and ministry of Mr. Symmes, written by Rev. John Brown, formerly of Haverhill, is an extremely interesting little book. A new edition was published in 1816.
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the work of the ministry, in which call the town con- curred February 18th, 1726, and agreed to give him for his support, one hundred pounds salary, one hundred settlement, the parsonage and dwelling-house ; and in April the same year, they added ten pounds more to his salary. Which offer he accepted and was ordained the 8th of June 1726. I have not been able to find any public account of his character and life. Those who knew him, speak of him as an amiable, pleasant man, a good public speaker, and as well liked by neighbouring societies. I should apprehend he was a man of less learning than his predecessors. His own people retain- ed their attachment to him till his death, which took place on the 4th of May 1765, in the 63d year of his age, and 39th of his ministry. He was a very fine pen- man, and kept the church records with uncommon ele- gance and accuracy. During his ministry 288 were add- ed to the church, 831 baptized, 176 married. In a mem- orandum attached to the church records, he observes, that the earthquake on the 29th October 1727, produc- ed a great effect upon the minds of his people, and was the means of awakening their attention to things of re- ligion. The same providence was followed with the same effect in this parish, and many were in conse- quence added to this church. Mr. Parsons preached the convention sermon in 1755, Math. v, 14, 15, 16.
Upon his tomb stone is the following Inscription.
This stone is placed over the dust of the Rev. Joseph Parsons, A. M. pastor of the first church in Bradford, as a testimony of the esteem and regard his flock bore to him, as an excellent minister and a christian, prepared for a better world. He was fav- oured with a quick and easy dismission from this, May 4th, 1765, in the 63d year of his age, and 39th of his ministry.
It was in June following the ordination of Mr. Par- sons, that this parish was set off, which event was in-
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deed, in contemplation, at the time Mr. Parsons re- ceived his call, and which induced the people of this part of town to vote against his settlement, not as they declared that they had ought against the man or doubted his ministerial qualifications, but because, con- templating a separation, they wished this to take place first, so as not to be involved in the expense of set- tling a man whose ministry they did not expect to enjoy.
Mr. Samuel Williams, of Waltham, succeeded Mr. Parsons in the west parish, he was ordained Nov. 20th 1765, and continued till January 14th, 1780, when he was dismissed in order to his accepting the professorship of Mathematicks and Natural Philosophy in Harvard Uni- versity. He was, I suppose, a man of more learning, than any other whose ministry this town has enjoyed. He was known as a literary character, not only in this but in other countries, among whom he is spoken of with respect for his philosophical enquiries and observa- tions. A circumstance took place at Cambridge which rendered his religious character questionable, but with the particulars of that unhappy transaction I am not ac- quainted. We should be careful not to form too decid- ed an opinion of a man's character from a single fault. A gentleman who was well acquainted with him in Ver- mont, and who spent a considerable time in his family, informed me, he spent his time in useful studies, much esteemed for his great attainments, and for his sober and orderly life. His history of Vermont has passed through two editions, and is one of the best works of the kind, which have been written in this country. He died at Rut- land, in 1817. During his ministry, the work of the Lord went on in that parish, 67 were added to the church, 225 baptized, and 85 married. He published while here, a sermon on repentance ; also a Thanksgiving sermon, Psalm CXXXVII, 5, 6, entitled, love of our country.
Mr. Allen, the present minister followed him, and is
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too well known by you to need any description of his char- acter, and too much respected to need any praise from me. He was ordained June Sth, 1781; since which time there have been two considerable revivals, one in the year 1806, the other in 1812, which produced an observable change in the state of that people, as well as in the feelings and life of their venerable pastor. During his ministry, eighty-five have been added to the church, one hundred and eighty-one baptized, two hundred and one married. May God grant that he may still see the fruit of his labors, and many souls, among his people, gathered into the fold of Christ, before he sleeps with the gen- eration of the dead. I have every reason to reverence and respect him for the very kind attention I have uni- formly received from him since my settlement in this place.
This parish was, as we observed, set off and incorpo- rated in June 1726, immediately upon which the peo- ple set about erecting a house for public worship, and placed it as you all know, but a little distance from the one in which we are now assembled. The first parish meeting was held the 4th of July 1726; Samuel Tenny was moderator. On the 8th of November this year, they voted unanimously to invite Mr. William Balch to preach with them, and on the 13th of March following, they gave him a call to settle with them, and for his support to give him one hundred pounds settlement, one hun- dred pounds salary, the improvement of the parsonage house and lot ; and if at the end of four years Mr. Balch should signify under his own hand, that this was not enough for his comfortable support, they would add ten more, and if after experiment this was not found enough, they would add another ten pounds. Mr. Balch, after some alteration, mutually agreed on in the proposals, ac- cepted the call and was ordained accordingly. I do not know that I can gratify your expectations better in re- gard to the character of Mr. Balch, and the circumstances
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of his ministry in this place, than to read to you the ac- count given in Eliot's Biographical Dictionary, which is as follows :-
"William Balch, minister of the second church in Brad- ford, was born at Beverly in 1704. He possessed strong powers of mind ; few of our New-England divines have surpassed him in clearness of perception, comprehension of understanding or soundness of judgment. The sim- plicity of his manners was peculiar, and he had a soft- ness and benevolence in his disposition, which he discov- ered on occasions, where most men would have been ir- ritated. He was graduated at Harvard College, 1724, or- dained 1728, and died 1792, aged 88. The first years of his ministry were spent in peace and harmony with his people, and the neighbouring churches. At length a spir- it of disorganization prevailed in many places, especially in the town near the Merrimack river. Nine members of Mr. Balch's church declared themselves dissatisfied with the preaching of their minister, and made a formal com- plaint to the brethren. . The church thought the com- plaint unreasonable, and refused to act upon it. Hence the aggrieved party applied to a neighbouring church, to admonish their pastor and brethren, according to the di- rection of the platform, by the third way of communion. The church voted to call a council of the neighbouring churches, and the result was signed by the moderator, the venerable John Barnard, minister of the first church in Andover, blaming the conduct of those who complained, and approved the doings of the church. Mr. Balch published the whole proceedings in a quarto pamphlet, containing the letters that passed between him and the first church in Gloucester, and the transactions of both churches, till the dispute was settled. This was printed in 1744. Two years after the parochial difference, Messrs. Wigglesworth of Ipswich, and Chipman of Beverly, made a serious at- tack upon their brother for propagating Arminian tenets, and wrote an able defence of the doctrines of Calvin, which
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were generally the sentiments of the New-England plant- ers. It seems the former controversy began in 1644, by a declaration of the aggrieved brethren, that "their pastor propagated doctrines, not agreeing with the confession of faith of these Congregational churches ; and also, that the church neglected the proper means of convicting said pas- tor of his errors." The gentleman who wrote against him in 1746, had been assisting those who complained ; and they were not satisfied with the result of the council. Their work, however, had no other effect than to draw from Mr. B. a most able reply, in which he manifested a
temper that, with all his meekness, could feel rebuke. There is[in it]much keen satire, mingled with sensible re- marks and solid argument. The separatists in Bradford, after this, built a meeting-house for themselves and the disaffected members of other churches. Mr. Balch lived to a good old age. His own flock esteemed and loved him, and when he was advanced in years settled a colleague He lived retired and was fond of husbandry, and the fruit of his orchard was said to be the best in the county of Essex. He was fond of the company of young men of talents, and had fine colloquial powers, especially in discussing theo- logical subjects. Being very desirous to read every thing upon Ethics and Metaphysics, he made many enquiries which discovered freedom of thought, and proved the en- ergy of his mind did not fail him in those years, when our strength is labour and sorrow.
P. S. His publications are, a discourse upon self-right- eousness, in which he declares what are false confidences, from the parable of the Pharisee and Publican, 1742- election sermon, 1749. His account of the proceedings of the council and his reply to Messrs. W. & C. make two pamphlets of more than fifty pages.
I have but little to add to this account of Mr. Balch. So far as I am able to judge from the knowledge I have of Mr. Balch, and the circumstances of his ministry here, I am disposed to think the statement made in the above
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extract, in regard to facts, is fair and correct, and will en- able those of you who have only heard of these things, to form as correct an idea about this venerable man, and the circumstances of his ministry, as anything which could be said in the limits allowed to a discourse.
In regard to the sentiments which formed the subject of controversy between them, it will be of no importance for me to decide. All the parties have long since ap- peared before their judge. I should, however, think my- self faulty, did I not suppose I had given you an oppor- tunity of knowing my own views of these doctrines, for the correctness of which, I shall also have to give ac- count.
So far as discipline was concerned, the simple question between the parties to be decided is, whether those of the church and neighbourhood, who were in sentiment Cal- vinistic, had a right, according to the then allowed organ- ization of the church, to deal with Mr. Balch and other members of the church, who they thought were Armin- ian? And in the decision of this question it is to be pre- sumed, there will be now, as there certainly was then, a diversity of sentiment. Before the death of Mr. Balch, several of his opponents became reconciled to him. One of them came to him and made formal and humble ac- knowledgment that he had wronged him, and from the character of Mr. Balch, we have no reason to question, but he heartily forgave him.
The last days of Mr. Balch, were calm and serene, and with the expression, "Come Lord Jesus, I am ready," he fell asleep.
It may not be uninteresting to know, that Mr. Balch was a descendant of Mr. John Balch, one of the first settlers in Beverly, who moved there from Dorchester, concerning whom Rev. Mr. White, one of the chief founders under God of the Massachusetts Colony, says, "he was an honest and good man." Beside the publications mentioned above, Mr. Balch published a sermon preached at the formation of the
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second church in Rowley, entitled "The duty of a christ- ian church to manage their affairs with charity," 1 Cor. xvI. 14. And also a sermon preached before the conven- tion of Congregational ministers.
His tombstone has the following inscription.
Erected to the memory of the Rev. William Balch, first pastor of the church in this place, who departed this life January the 12th, A. D. 1792, and in the 88th year of his age, and 64th of his ministry.
After Mr. Balch, through the infirmities of age become unable to discharge the duties of a pastor, an arrangement was made for settling a colleague, several candidates were employed, one of whom Mr. Chaplin from Rowley, now of Groton, received an invitation to setttle, and gave an an- swer in the affirmative. But as objections rose up before his ordination, a council was called and he was released. There was nothing however in these objections which bore unfavourably upon the ministerial character of Mr. Chap- lin. The effect of this was, as might have been expected, the parish was divided into parties, and a great many persons were heard upon trial, before one was found in whom they could unite. But at length he who giveth pastors, through the instrumentality of the committee of supplies, brought Mr. Ebenezer Dutch to this place. His first sermon from the text, "buy the truth and sell it not," pleased all and united all. And in the beginning of the year 1779, both church and parish gave an unanimous vote for his settlement, with the exception of an individual, who said he voted against him to take off the curse pro- nounced against those of whom all speak well. A great abuse certainly of the real intention of that scripture. Mr. Dutch accepted the invitation, and was ordained Novem- ber 17, 1779.
Mr. Dutch was born in Ipswich, was graduated at Prov- idence College in 1776. So far as books are concerned, I suppose though respectable, he had less learning than
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any of his predecessors. He was a man however of an active, ready mind, possessed naturally great powers of speech, and when his feelings were particularly engaged, was as one certainly able to judge says, a man of "empas- sioned eloquence," and could without preparation hold forth on any subject connected with his profession, with great ease to himself and much to the satisfaction of his hearers. He was a man of quick feelings, and was in con- sequence often put off his guard. This produced excen- tricities, and contradictions, and irregularities in his con- duct. And all will lament to say or think, that he engaged for a time too much in speculations of a worldly nature, a circumstance which proved injurious not only to his name but finally to his estate. But he that repenteth and forsaketh his sin shall find mercy. No one was more sensi- ble of his mistake, sin if you will have it so, than Mr. Dutch himself finally became, and certainly no one more sorry for it. Most of you will recollect the sermon he preached from these words, "cut it down why cumbereth it the ground," after he became sensible of his errors, and also the acknowledgments he made on this occasion. His con- victions were followed by amendment of life, for if in the middle part of his ministry the cares of this world occupied too much of his time, there was a most thorough reform, and no one could well be more diligent and faithful than he was the few last years of his life ; and God be blessed he was permitted to see the fruits of his labour. Many in this place must acknowledge him as their father in Christ. His death as you all know, was very sudden, but the little time spared him, after he felt its approach, was spent in personal devotion, in words of exhortation, of comfort and reproof to those who came around him according as their particular circumstances seemed to require. He de- parted this life the 5th of August, 1813, aged 62, in the thir- ty-fourth year of his ministry. During his ministry there were 147 which were received to the church, 218 married. He did not keep an account of baptisms, a circumstance
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much to be regretted. He must have administered this ordi- nance to about three hundred. Mr. Dutch published two sermons, one preached at the dedication of this house, the other after the death of the first Mrs. Dutch.
His tomb stone has the following Inscription.
Rev. Ebenezer Dutch departed this life, August 4th, 1813, aged 62.
As priests of old, so christian pastors die.
But Christ the Lord, the great High Priest on high,
And the good Shepherd, ever lives to save
Those, for whose ransom, his own blood he gave,
His church, he ever will defend and feed,
And bring to endless life, a numerous seed,
Those pastors, will a crown of glory wear,
Who feed his lambs and sheep with faithful care.
Your present pastor was ordained the 28th of Septem- ber, 1814. Since his coming among you, to January this year, there have been 33 added to the church, 47 infants and 12 adults baptized, 70 deaths, 200 births, and 34 mar- riages.
I should be considered guilty of an important omission did I not give some account of singing as it has been performed in our churches. A special attention to this lovely part of public worship was excited by the younger Symmes. Till his time the practice was to read one or two lines and then to sing them. A practice which prevailed universally in the early settlement of this coun- try. He prevailed with the people to alter their practice in this respect, and was so happy by his exertions as to excite an attention, indeed to create a taste for this part of worship, which has in a degree continued to the pres- ent time. Perhaps few towns have been favored for a longer time with decent performance of this duty. In this parish, I do not know but in both since the division of the town, there has been a greater union of feeling and harmony of action, than is always found among those who join in this service. I have not learned of more than one considerable interruption of this good feel- ing in this parish since its incorporation. And this con-
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troversy was soon settled to the mutual and general sat- isfaction by some wise regulation adopted by the parish. There is now a large number of persons well acquainted with the rules of this science, and several who, if occa- sion called, could with great credit, take the lead in the choir. For this we are in a great measure indebted to the exertions and skill of the one who has, for many years, had the conduct of singing in this place. To whom this society is under great obligations for the part he has taken in this business, and I apprehend the pub- lic acknowledgment of this sentiment is nothing more than what is his just due .*
I should not however leave proper impressions of my ideas concerning the style of our music, did I not ob- serve there is in it a degree of harshness, perhaps I ought to add noise, which very much diminishes the pleasure, if not the moral and religious effects which would other- wise be received from it. I know there are exertions now making to remedy this evil, and as all seem sensi- ble of the need of reformation, I cannot but hope these exertions will be followed with the most perfect success.
Having thus called to your recollection some of the most important and interesting events connected with the history of this town, most of them, I know, important and interesting to none but ourselves, I shall conclude with a few observations which seem to arise from the subjects before us. And
1st. The people in this town have the greatest reason for gratitude for the good and pleasant land which the Lord their God has given them. Very few people are more favored in this respect than the people of this place. When they sow their seed it does really fall into that good ground which bringeth forth, some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold. But it is not only those who get their riches from the increase of the field, who have reason to say their lines have fallen to them
* Captain Phineas Hardy.
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in pleasant places, for such is the nature of business here, that all who are disposed may find full employ- ment, and employments suited to their capacities whether in the dawn of life, or arrived to the strength and vigour of manhood, or sinking under the infirmities of age. There may be places where large possessions can be more readily acquired, but I question whether there is one in this commonwealth, where means of comforta- ble living can be more easily obtained, or indeed where they are more generally enjoyed. And it would be easy by the mention of individuals, to support the declaration, that here also the hand of the diligent maketh rich. If these things are so, and I appeal to all sober minded and considerate persons for the truth of them, I would ask whether, except in instances of real misfortunes, those who are destitute of things necessary and conven- ient, have not great reason to look for the real cause, in some fault or folly of their own.
2d. From the care this town has taken to select out and appoint to office men of good report, those who looked not only to their own things, but also to the things of others, the public concerns of this town have been wisely and prudently conducted ; very few instances occur, from the earliest settlement to the present time, of any con- siderable default in any of the officers in the town. And in consequence of the measures the town has at differ- ent times adopted to preserve order in their assemblies, the meetings for the transaction of town and parish business, have generally been decent and orderly, thus affording all present an opportunity to see and hear what was doing and of acting understandingly, in the parts they took in the various business brought before them. And though in the various transactions of the town for 170 years, there must have been in many instances a diversity of sentiment and judgment, yet upon the whole there is upon the records great evidence of a gen- eral disposition to think and act together.
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3d. From what the town has done to furnish instruc- tion to the rising generation. A knowledge competent to the conduct of the common concerns of life, has been acquired by most who have lived in this town, and there have always been a competent number of well instructed persons, able to transact all the business of the town in a correct and orderly way. The public records have been well kept, and I should be guilty of an omission did I not observe this has been particularly the case since they have been in the hands of the present clerk, who has served the town in this office about twenty years .* And though there have not risen many men, strictly called great, yet there have been those respectable in the councils of the State, and distinguished on the bat- tle ground. There have also been and still are in the several professions, men whom the town calls her sons, with whose standing in life she has much reason to be satisfied.
4th. From the part the town, in common with others, took in the great enterprise which gave independence to these United States, you enjoy a free government, equal laws, and a mild administration ; your personal, civil and religious nights are all secured to you ; your nobles are of yourself, and your governours proceed from the midst of you. There is indeed no other nation upon the globe, where the people are so free and happy, where the means of comfortable, I may say genteel subsistence, can be so generally acquired, or where every one has so full and unrestrained an opportunity of directing his talents and labors in the way and to the purposes most agreeable to himself.
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