History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 77

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278

USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III > Part 77

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As the settlements in the town had gradually ex- tended westward there had, ever since the death of Rev. Mr. Phillips in 1644, been contention in the town on account of the meeting-house being located in the eastern part of the town. On October 14, 1654, it had been ordered that a new meeting-house be built between Sergt. Bright's and John Biscoe's, -that is, between John P. Cushing's mansion-honse and the northwest corner of Belmont and Common Streets. John Sherman was bargained with to build it by September 1650, for £100, with the use of the old seats, the Cambridge meeting-house to be the pattern in all points. This location caused so much dissension that the new house was built on or near the old site upon Meeting-house common. The Heating of the meeting-house was ordered November 7, 1650 to be made according to office, ag and estate, - thirve rates, amounting to €453 128. 3d., having been

raved This building continued to be the meeting- houte for the entire town, including both Waltham and Weton, until after the resignation of Mr. Bally in 1692. After that the old controversy about the Taconvenience of the location waxed more earnest and resulted in a division of the church in 1695, and the building of a new West Precinct meeting- house upon the southeast corner of Belmont and

Lexington Streets, upon the homestall lot originally granted to the Rev. John Knowles, who had been the assistant or colleague of Mr. Phillips. This building was upon the north side of the present Orchard Street. At the new house Samuel Angier was settled by the majority vote of the town and church, the Rev. Mr. Gibbs having declined to remove from the old building with those who preferred to still assemble there. The division did not result, however, in a legal separation till 1720.

In 1695 the farmers of Weston had amiably been assisted by the whole town in building a meeting- house more conveniently located for them, upon the land of Nathaniel Coolidge, Sr., on the road at the head of Parkhurst meadows, a little in front of the site of the church of 1850. They did not have a regularly organized church and settled pastor till 1709, although they began to occupy it in 1700. In 1722 they raised a new building.

In 1720 the Legislature ran a division line between the East and West Precincts and ordered the West within two years to locate their meeting-house upon the rising ground near Nathaniel Livermore's dwell- ing-house-that is, a little northwest of the George W . Lyman mansion-house, in Waltham. The East Pre- cinet was within ten years to locate their meeting- house upon the southeast corner of Belmont and Common Streets, upon School-house Hill, afterward known as Meeting-house Hill. Both precincts attempted to secure the old West meeting-honse, but to such a height had the dissension gone that both failed. The West, therefore, bought the old meeting- house of Newton for not over £80 and erected it upon the appointed location, that ofthe present Waltham church, and in 1723 Rev. Warham Williams was settled as pastor, The East Precinct erected a new building upon their location in 1723, and Mr. Gibbs having died, Rev. Seth Storer was settled in 1724; the old church records remained with the East Precinct. In 1754 they built a new house at the foot of Common Street, corner of Mt. Auburn Street, and in 1836 upon the present site.

The old West meeting-house was continued a while as a separate Third Church, Robert Sturgeon acting as pastor, for which he was indicted by the grand jury and fined £20. Not long afterwards the build- ing was demolished.

THE FIRST PARISH IN WATERTOWN.1-To the pas- torate of Dr. Francis .- On the 30th day of July, 1630, O. S., about forty men had assembled (probably in the house of Sir Richard Saltonstall ) in Watertown, in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay. The object of their gathering was the organization of the church known to history as the First Parish Church in Watertown. The first name on the list of those who subscribed to the covenant then adopted was

1 By Rev. Wm. HI. Savage.

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that of Sir Richard Saltonstall. This is the cove- nant to which they set their names :

JULY 30, 1630.

"We, whose names are hereto subscribed, having, through God's mercy, escaped ont of the Pollutions of the world, & bwen taken into the Society of his People, with all thankfulness do hereby both with heart & hand acknowledge, that his gracious goodness & fatherly care towards us; & for further & more full declaration thereof, to the present and future ages, have undertaken (for the promoting of his glory & the Church's good, and the honor of our blessed Jesus, in our more full and free subjecting of ourselves & ours, under his gracions government, in the practice of & obedience unto all his holy ordinances & orders, which lie hath pleased to prescrihe and impose upon us) a long & hazardous voyage from East to West, from old England in Europe, to New England in America ; that we may walk before him, and serve him without fear in holiness & righteousness, all the days of our lives, & being safely ar- rived here, and thus far onwards peaceably preserved hy his special providence, that we may bring forth our intentions into actious, & per- feet our resolutions, in the beginnings of some just and meet execu- tions ; we have separated the day above written from all other services, and dedicated it wholly to the Lord in divine employmeuts, for a day of afflictiug our souls, & humbling ourselves before the Lord, tu seek him, & at his hands, a way to walk in, by fasting & prayer, that we might know what was good in his sight ; and the Lord was iutreated of us. For in the end of that day, after the finisbing of our public duties, we do all, before we depart, solemnly & with all our hearts, personally, man by mao for ourselves & ours (charging them before Christ & his elect angels, even them that are not here with us this day, or are yet unborn, that they keep the promise unblamably and faithfully uuto to the Coming of our Lord Jesus) promise, & enter into a sure covenant with the Lord our God, & before him with one another, by oath & serious pro- testation made to denounce all idolatry aud superstition, will-worship. all humane traditions & inventions whatsoever iu the worship of Gud, & forsaking all evil ways, do give ourselves wholly nnto the Lord Jesus, to do him faithful service, observing & keeping all his statutes. commands & ordinances, in all matters conceruing our reformation ; bis worship, administrations, ministry & goverument ; & in the carriage of ourselves, among ourselves & one towards another, as he hath prescribed in his boly word. Further swearing to cleave noto that alone, & the true sense & meaning thereof to the utmost of our power, as unto the most clear light & infallible rule, & all-sufficient canon in all things that concern us in this our way. In witness of all, we do ex animo, & in the presence of God, hereto set our names or marks, iu the day & year above written."

That was the beginning of the First Church in Watertown. Over the church thus founded George Phillips was settled as minister, having for his rnl- ing elder "one Richard Browne."

The task of the present writer is to give in brief the biographies of Mr. Phillips and his successors, with such marginal comment as the seope of the present work will admit.

Before proceeding to sueh biographieal notices it is, however, fit that we should glance at some of the personal elements that went to the making of the First Church.

From the first day of its existence we may see the working of tendencies that were prophetic of all that has been notable in the history of the organization. From the first the people of Water- town were out of harmony with the idea of Church and of State that gave shape to the Puritan Theocracy, the ideas of government that found expression in Winthrop and the Board of Assistants, and the ideas of ecclesiastical exclusiveness and dogmatism that found expression in the ministers of Boston.

Early in the year 1631 the Governor and his assistants levied a tax of sixty pounds on the planta-

tions, for the purposes of fortifying the Newtown border.

When this action became known in Watertown, Rev. George Phillips and Mr. Richard Browne, his ruling elder, united in ealling the people together, and when they had assembled they were asked to consider the fact that they had not been consulted about the tax. Aeting under the advice of their leaders, the citizens refused to pay. The result of this action on the part of Watertown was that the proceedings of the Boston oligarchy eame to a sudden stop. Before any further taxation was attempted, it was ordered that " two of every plantation be appoint- ed to confer with the Court about raising a public stock." This was the origin of representative gov- ernment on this eontinent. The lineal and legiti- mate results of the action taken by the men of Watertown in 1631 came in the Boston Tea Party, the Deelaration of Independence and the Constitu- tion of the United States. The men who made their homes on the Charles were the first on this conti- nent to show that they appreciated the gravity of what was taking place on these new shores and to exercise that "eternal vigilance " without which no people ean keep its liberties.

In the organization and administration of the church Mr. Phillips and Mr. Browne were no less careful of the rights of the individual than they had shown themselves in the ordering of civil affairs. The covenant that was made the basis of their chinreh was remarkably free from the hair-splitting dogmatism that has been the bane of the world's re- ligious life. Its aim was to secure for the church and for the individual the rights claimed by its sign- ers as against the various forms of ecclesiastical hier- achy, and not at all to bind them to any set of doetrinal propositions. Mr. Phillips was a man of broad and charitable spirit, very liberal in his theo- logical opinions, and in his ideas of church govern- ment a thorough independent. In this last matter he was entirely at one with his parishioners. This appears in the fact that when, in 1639, Mr. John Knowles was settled as his colleague in the parish he was set apart for the work of the ministry by the Watertown Church. No council was called to assist or to sanction their act. No other church was noti- fied, and no minister save their own had any part in the service. This was the first elear assertion of strict Congregationalism on this side of the ocean, and established the claim of the Watertown Church to have been the first Congregational Church in this country.

In the position he took and hell, Mr. Phillips had the countenance and sympathy of two men who are entitled to loving and grateful remembrance. One of these men was Richard Brown, who stood with Mr. Phillips in his controversy with the Gen- eral Court against taxation without representa- tion, and the other was Sir Richard Saltonstall. Mr.

HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Brown was a relation of Robert Brown, the founder of the " Brownist " movement in England. Before coming to this country he had been a ruler in a Separa- ist church in London, had there rendered important services to persecuted Non-conformists. He seems to have been a man of decided character, and of no mean abilities as a thinker and administrator of public business. To the end of his life he retained the confidence and the esteem of the people of Watertown, and was honored by them with many offices of trust and responsibility. We have seen that he was quick to claim his right as a citizen, when a tax was demanded of him. He had a merit which is of a rarer sort-he was willing that other men should have their rights in matters of opinion and of worship. He opposed all persecution for opinion's sake, and took the (then) extreme ground that " churches of Rome were true churches." But such radicalism could not then be tolerated, and though Mr. Phillips seems to have agreed with him, Winthrop and Dudley, and others in power did not. The usual result followed. Brown was deposed from being elder, but his spirit remained in the church, and in due time found itself in the majority.

Sir Richard Saltonstall, after he had helped to found the church on the broad and generous plan exemplified in the faith and conduct of its chosen minister and elder, returned to England, where he resided for the rest of his life. The sentiments he entertained regarding the matter of religious liberty were not such as to commend him to the favor of those who were shaping the policy of the Colony at large, and he probably felt that a peaceful co-opera- tion with them would not be possible for him. Ilow completely he was in sympathy with the leaders of the Watertown church is revealed in a letter that deserves a place in the remembrance of those who trace their religions lineage to a source so high and pure.

This letter was addressed to the persecuting reli- zionists of Boston :

" R. vor .nl & derro friends, whom I unfaynedly love & respect,-

" It duth not a little griese my spirit to heare what sadd things are re- p rtr Idbyly of your tyranny and persecution in New England, as That sortira, who, & impa an men for their consciences ;- First, you com- pel c bome into your assemblysas yon know will not Joyne with In y ir Worship, & when they show their dislike thereof, or witness against it, Then you afire up your magistrates to push them for such Howwe ther publicke affronta. Truly, friends, this your 1 et de chelles my in mutter of worship to doc that whereof il y ar t fully priscaled, Is to make them sin, for soe the Apostle 10 11 4 -1. te is, A many are made hypocrites Th. roby, conform- the Land on a fore of piment We who pray for you, opatr every way hoped the Lord would have given you Gor ha Et wal ver, that you might have been eyes to God's pro- to lote mulese prue these sures in a wilderness which you a faire tm nt them rigid ways have layed you very lowe tin h arte (to a . Idw samme yon I have heard them peso de jol tid za Mi That the lard would give you mcke bonde spente, rot to strive so much for uniformity us to krepe

Wir i was me if carl, slan to aginging of the warres, I re- mech tabit re, tout then had-erions thoughts of plant- In im New England, die I me to writ t the governor thereof, to

know if those that differ from yon in opinion, yet houlding the same foundation io religion, as Anabaptists, Seekers, Antinomians, & the like, might be permitted to live among you, to which I received this short answer from your then Governor-Mr. Dudley-God forbid, (Maid he) our love for the truth should be grown sve could That we should tol- erate errours ; & when (for satisfaction of myself & others) I desired to know your grounds, he referred me to the books written bere, between the l'resbyterians & Independents, which, it that bad been sufficient, I needed not to have sent so farre to understand the reasons of your prac- tice. I hope you do not assume to yourselves infallihilitie of judgment. when the most learned of the Apostles confesseth he knew but jo parts, & saw but darkeley as through a glass, for God is light, & no further than be dothillumine us can we see, he our partes & learning never so great. Oh that all those who are brethren, though yet they cannot zlinke & speake the same things, might be of one accord in the Lord, Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be thus mynded towards one another, after the example of Jesus Christ our blessed Savyor, in whose everlasting armes of protection hee leaves you who will never leave to he

" Your truly & much affectionate friend, in the nearest union, " KIC: SALTONSTALL."

" For my reverend & worthyly iauch esteemed friends, Mr. Cotton & Mr. Wilson, preachers to the Church which is at Boston, in New England, give this-"

Over the church founded by such men in the spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice that characterized the Puritan movement, and in a spirit of enlight- ened liberality so far in advance of the Puritan age, was set, as we have seen, a man eminently fitted for the post of leadership.

Mr. George Phillips was born at Raymond, in the county of Norfolk (Savage says " at Rainham, St. Martin's, Norfolk "), England. He gave early evidence of uncommon talents and love of learning, and at the University (probably Cambridge) dis- tinguished himself by remarkable progress in his studies and developed a special fondness for theology. He settled at Boxstead, in Suffolk, and soon became suspected of a tendency to Non-conformity. As the troubles of the time increased, Mr. Phillips resolved to join his fortunes with the Puritans who were about to depart for New England. He arrived early in the year 1630, and soon after lost his wife, who died at Salem. Presently, in company with "that excellent Knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall," and " other Christians, having chosen a place upon Charles river for a town, which they called Water- town, they resolved that they would combine into a church-fellowship as their first work; and build the house of God before they could build many homes for themselves." In his office as minister of the Water- town Parish, Mr. Phillips was eminently faithful and successful. A man of firmness and independence in thought and in conduct, he was capable of main- taining his views with ample learning, and a vigorous and convincing logic. Though, in several respects in advance of his time, the nobility of his character, the candor and courtesy of his manner and the force of his mind secured and kept the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens. He died on the Ist of July, 164], lamented not only by his parish- ioners, hut by the Colony at large. As the founder of representative government in America, he should

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have a statue erected to his memory in the town to which he gave his life.

It was the custom of early New England for each church to have two ministers-one as pastor and the other as teacher.

Until 1639 Mr. Phillips was sole minister. In that year Mr. John Knowles, "a godly man and a prime scholar," arrived in New England, and on the 19th of December he was ordained second pastor, in con- nection with Mr. Phillips. By departing from the common usage of pastor and teacher, the church put its theory of independency into practice, and, by or- daining a man who had never been a minister, or- daining him by their own act, without notice given to the magistrates, without co-operation or consent of any minister save their own, the people declared that they took their Christian liberty in sober, practical earnest. Mr. Knowles seems to have been a man of very liberal views; in church government an inde- pendent, and in his broad charity of doctrine a man to delight " that good Knight, Sir Richard Saltonstall."

In 1642 he went with Mr. Thompson, of Braintree, on a missionary voyage to Virginia, but, finding things there in no condition to warrant much hope of good, he presently returned to Watertown and re- sumed his pastoral relation with the church.

This relation he retained for six years after Mr. Phillips' death, when in 1650 he returned to England. Making his home in London, he continued to preach in spite of persecutions until he died at a very ad- vanced age in 1685.

According to Dr. Francis, " Mr. Phillips' successor in the ministry at Watertown was the Rev. John Sherman." By some Mr. Sherman is said to have begun his pastoral work in 1647, hut there is no cer- tain proof from the records of his having been in office before 1648. His relation to Mr. Knowles, who was here until 1650, is not definitely settled.

· Mr. Sherman was born December 26, 1613, in Ded- ham, in the county of Essex, England. In his home, and under the preaching of the celebrated John Rog- ers, the friend and counselor of George Phillips, he received deep and permanent religious impressions. In school he was studious and dutiful-once only he was chastised, on which occasion his offence was that he gave " the heads of sermons to his idle schoolmates, when an account thereof was demanded from them "- an offence which no modern boy conld well be guilty of.

In due time he became a student at Emanuel Col- lege, Cambridge, but failed to receive his degree be- cause he refused to make the required subscription.

As he was then not more than twenty years of age, his behavior revealed not only an early maturity of thought, but an equal development of honesty and self-respect. He acted with like decision when it came to the choice of his theatre of action in lite, for when he was but twenty-one years old we find him in New England. That was in 1634. In that year he

preached at Watertown as assistant to Mr. Phillips for a few weeks. Mather informs us that his first dis- course was on a Thanksgiving Day, when a meeting was held under a tree in the open air. Several clergy- men who were present "wondered exceedingly " when they heard so young a man speak with such learning and good judgment.

Soon after this he removed to New Haven, and was invited to settle in that region. Declining to do so, he was chosen as one of the magistrates of the Colony ; but being invited to return to Watertown to take the place left vacant by the death of Mr. Phillips, he laid down his office and came back to the banks of the Charles.

Here he fully justified the high reputation he had made before his departure. He was chosen fellow of Harvard College, and besides the services rendered to that institution in his official capacity, he continued for thirty years to give fortnightly lectures, which were attended by the students, who walked from Cam- bridge to Watertown to hear him. His reputation for scholarship extended far and wide. A "skill in tongues and arts," says Mather, "beyond the common rate adorned him."

His favorite studies were, however, mathematical and astronomical, and in these departments he had no peer in the western world.

In his leisure he made almanacs, in which he set down moral and religious maxims good for all meri- dians and all years.

His style of discourse is said to have been full and rich. His mind was his library, and he could speak freely and accurately without the help of manuscript or even the briefest notes.

In private he was sparing of speech. In council he was clear and weighty. In all relations of life dignified and courteons. His last discourse was marked by a richness of thought and energy of lan- guage that filled his hearers with admiration. He was seized with his last illness at Sudbury, where he had gone to preach, but rallied sufficiently to be able to reach his own honse in Watertown, where he died on the 8th of August, 1685, at the age of seventy-two.

Mr. Sherman was twice married-six children were born to him in his first marriage, and twenty in his second.

On the 24th of August, 1685, a little more than two weeks after the death of Mr. Sherman, a committee was chosen at a town-meeting to treat with "Mr. Bailey, the elder," on the subject of settling in the ministry at Watertown. Mr. Bailey was at that time residing in Boston, and a committee was sent to him requesting him to meet the assembled people and give them an opportunity " to discourse a little with him." At a conference held in accordance with this proposal, he expressed himself willing to become their minister " if peace and love should continue amongst them, and they would make his life com- fortable."

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HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.

In August, 1650, " at a general town-meeting," a call was issued in due form. This call Mr. Bailey ac- cepted, and on the 6th of October he was " solemnly set apart for pastoral work at Watertown, without the imposition of hands."

John Bailey was born near Blackburn, in Lanca- shire, England, on the 24th of February, 1644. Ilis mother was a woman of deep and earnest religious spirit, and under her influence the boy became early imbued with " a serious sense of God and religion." ilis father was a man of licentious habits, and in his absence the young John conducted the devotions of the family until his example so admonished and af- 'ected his parent that he broke off his evil ways and became an exemplary Christian.

Having received a good education, young Bailey began to preach at the age of twenty-two. His first charge was at Chester. The principal field of his labor in the old country was, however, in Limerick, Ireland, where he was preacher in the Abbey Church. He devoted himself to his work with such zeal and constancy that at the end of his fourteen years of ser- vice his health was seriously broken. This result was, probably, hastened by the vexation and impris- onment that he suffered for his non-conformity in church matters. He had shown himself to have the qualities of influence and leadership to such a degree that he was worth winning over to the Estab- lishment, and before attempting to silence him, the Lord Lieutenant attempted to buy him with promises of preferment. But Bailey was not for sale, and so went to prison. lle was liberated, after something like a year, on his promise to go beyond seas. In fulfilment of this agreement, he came to Boston, and was for a time assistant minister at the Old South Church.

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History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. III, Part 77

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co Number of Pages: 1278

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co
Number of Pages: 1278