USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > History of Newton, Massachusetts : town and city, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1630-1880 > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
Thus Mr. Cotton preached in the old meeting-house about seven years, and in the new, about thirty-six. This new structure stood eighty-four years, and was replaced by another in 1805.
It is stated in Ripley's History of Waltham that a committee of that town were authorized to purchase the old meeting-house of Newton at a sum not exceeding eighty pounds ; and that the house was purchased and taken down and removed to Waltham in the month of October, 1721 ; and there it remained till 1776.
A committee was chosen in March, 1722, "to seat the new meeting-house, according to the people's rates and age."
After the controversy relating to the location of the meeting- house was arranged, it might have been expected that the inhab- itants of Newton would settle down, at least for a season, "in love and peace." But they had not yet attained to that which is per- fect, and they yearned again for their ideal. In November, 1722, the inhabitants, in town meeting assembled, appointed a committee of seven men with full power to answer the petition and complaint of the southerly families of the town at the Great and General Assembly, and to act thereupon as they should have occasion. It
224
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
appears from the Records, that in that year the six families in the south precinct, which the General Court had allowed to worship and pay ministerial taxes in Roxbury, sent a memorial to the Court, complaining that Newton had taxed them for the support of the ministry in Newton, and sued and imprisoned some of them for non-payment. And in December, 1722, a committee of nine was appointed to draw up a petition to "the General Court or Assembly, to bring on the six families that were set off to support the ministry in Roxbury, during the pleasure of the General Court, that they may again help to support the ministry in Newton."
May 10, 1725, the town appointed Richard Ward, ensign John Spring, Mr. Nathaniel Longley, Robert Murdock and Ebenezer Stone a committee "to dignify the seats and pews in the meeting- house ; " also, voted to have "the town meetings warned by set- ting up said warnings upon a post by the meeting-house."
More than two years passed after the committee was appointed as above, with reference to the recovery of the six families who elected to attend worship at Roxbury. Either the General Court were dilatory in their action, or the independent spirits in the southern part of the town were dilatory in yielding obedience ; for at the town meeting of May 10, 1725, a vote was passed " that the Great and General Court be further applied unto, to bring on the six families to support the ministry with us, that have been allowed to attend the public worship at Roxbury,"- the same committee being appointed over this business as before, with the addition of Ebenezer Stone, Esq.
The State seems, about this time, to have had a full treasury, and also a disposition to help the people of the towns by loans of money, to enable them to develop their territory, and to start them on a career of prosperity. At the town meeting of March 3, 1728, the town appointed three trustees, to receive and loan to the citizens its proportion of sixty thousand pounds, granted by law by the General Court, and to loan it to the inhabitants desiring it, no one loan to be less than ten nor more than twenty- five pounds.
The Record of the town at this time shows how onerous was the duty of a constable of Newton, on whom was laid, for many years, the burden of collecting the annual taxes; and a citizen elected to that office, if he did not submit to accept, was com- pelled to pay a pecuniary mulct. At the meeting in March, 1728,
225
TOWN VOTES.
Mr. Joseph Jackson was chosen constable, but declined the office, and "did immediately pay his fine as the law requires." Another record shows that the amount of the fine was five pounds. The people did not expect their public officers to give their time with- out compensation ; for they voted, May 12, 1729, to give their representative to the General Court the sum of forty-five pounds six shillings for his services for the year past.
At a town meeting held May 12, 1755, the matter of building a new pound was taken up for debate, and it was voted to build a new pound with stone, accepting for the purpose Mr. Noah Wiswall's offer of a piece of land, near the house of Mr. Jonathan Richardson. It was left to the Selectmen, at a subsequent meet- ing, "to dispose of the old pound as they shall think proper."
We find the following grave entries in the Town Records under their respective dates. We gain some idea of the simple and in- expensive habits of the people, by observing that these provisions were made when the town was already three-quarters of a century old.
March 19, 1759 .- VOTED, to provide a Cotton Velvet Pall to be used at funerals.
May 11, 1763 .- VOTED, to let the Velvet Pall to the inhabitants of other towns, and that those persons that shall hire said Velvet Pall shall pay half a dollar every time it is hired.
May 13, 1799 .- The town was authorized to purchase two learses for the use of the town, when in their opinion the money can with convenience be spared out of the Town Treasury.
A record like the following gives a vivid impression of the sim- plicity of the life of the men who walked in these streets a century and a quarter ago, and laid the foundations of the conveniences we now enjoy ;- men who toiled unselfishly for the public welfare, and were willing to accept the lowest compensation for their ser- vice, conscious of having discharged a duty which they owed to their fellow-citizens :
March 3, 1760 .- VOTED, that every person shall have liberty to work out their highway rate the present year; that every person shall have three pence per hour for their labor in said ways the present year; and there shall be allowed for each team that is able to carry a ton weight three pence per hour for their labor on said ways.
15
.
CHAPTER XIX.
REV. JONAS MERIAM, FOURTH PASTOR .- BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .- THE SLAVE .- NEW CHURCH LIST .- SECOND PARISH .- PULPIT SUPPLIES.
AT the town-meeting held May 20, 1757, the town voted " to en- deavor to raise money by subscription towards defraying the charge of the funeral of our late pastor, the Rev. Mr. John Cotton." At the same time a committee was appointed to take care that the pulpit be supplied. The committee, consisting of Deacon John Stone, Deacon Thomas Greenwood, Deacon Ephraim Ward, Henry Gibbs, Esq., and Lieutenant Robert Murdock, was instructed by the town " to take care that the pulpit be supplied until the first Monday in September next," the supplies to be paid out of the town treasury by order of the Selectmen.
On the 22d of August following, a committee was appointed " to agree with a gentleman or gentlemen to preach with us some term of time." This "term of time " was afterwards defined, " till the first Monday of December next."
At a town meeting held Friday, December 9, 1757, the town voted to " concur with the church in the choice of Mr. Jonas Meriam for their gospel minister," and to desire him to supply the pulpit until the next town meeting. At a subsequent meeting, Decem- ber 26th, the sum of eighty pounds, lawful money, was granted to Mr. Meriam for his yearly salary,- the salary to begin at the time of his ordination ; also, to give him firewood yearly from the min- isterial wood-lots, and " for his encouragement to settle with us in the work of the ministry, in lawful money a sum equal to one thou- sand pounds, old tenor."
It was also voted to record Mr. Meriam's reply to the call of the church and town in the Town Records; and a committee was appointed "to treat with Mr. Jonas Meriam, to know in what way
226
227
REV. JONAS MERIAM.
and manner he would choose to come into town and also to wait on him into town accordingly."
The above records indicate that the church exercised the right of primary action in the election of the minister, and that the town, as the lower house, concurred with the action of the church, appro- priating the necessary funds for his support. They also testify to the deliberation with which the people proceeded in an affair of so great importance. Mr. Cotton died May 17, 1757. The vote con- firming the choice of Mr. Meriam as his successor was passed December 9th, more than six months afterwards ; and the ordination of Mr. Meriam did not take place till March 22, 1758. At the town meeting held thirteen days previous to the ordination, the in- habitants voted that "the sum of thirteen pounds, six shillings and eight pence be granted and drawn out of the town treasury by the Selectmen, and put into the hands of the committee to defray the charges of Mr. Meriam's ordination,- said committee to be account- able."
The vote instructing a committee to consult with Mr. Meriam as to " the way and manner of his coming into town," which would be agreeable to him, indicates a degree of formality to which mod- ern times are strangers. It may imply that Mr. Meriam was a person paying much regard to punctilios ; and, as the whole town had turned out in procession to welcome the coming of his prede- cessor, Mr. Cotton, to allow Mr. Meriam to enter the scene of his future labors without any special demonstrations of respect, might have the appearance of an invidious distinction. We find no record as to the manner in which he was received by the citizens. But the kindness with which he was treated, especially in his day of calamity, and the extended period during which he labored as a useful minister among the people, are proofs that he did not lack for sympathy or respect. The pomp of a formal reception seems to have suited the ideas held by the fathers of the reverence due to the ministry. How great the contrast between the reverence shown in former times to the sacred profession and the customs of our modern life !
In that early period, the business of the church and of the town was to a considerable extent the same. The interests of the parish and the interests of the citizens were not dissevered. The simple lives and customs of the people afforded little occasion for the adoption of measures which would be made matter of record.
228
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Every year was modelled substantially on the plan of the year preceding. The machinery of life was little jostled by outside influences .*
The burning of the Church Records with Mr. Meriam's house, twelve years after his settlement, leaves us without the means of following the events of the early part of his ministry. But we give these notices of his life and character.
1
Mr. Meriam was the fourth minister of Newton, and the last who was settled by the whole town. He was the son of Jonas Meriam, of Lincoln, Mass. ; his grandfather was John Meriam, of Lincoln, and his great grandfather, John Meriam, of Lexington. He was born in Lincoln, in 1730, graduated at Harvard University, 1753, in a class of seventeen, of whom six became ministers, and received the degree of Master of Arts in 1757. He was thrice married. His first wife (married November, 1758) was Mehitable Foxcroft, of Cambridge ; the second (married in 1771) was Jeru- sha Fitch, of Brookline ; the third, Sarah Chardon, of Boston. His only child, Mehitable, born June 5, 1760, married Jolın Ken- rick, Esq., of Newton. The first wife died April 22, 1770, aged forty-seven years,- a month and four days subsequent to the fire which consumed his dwelling; the second died in 1776; the third wife survived him. After he was married to Miss Fitch, her mother became a member of the family at Newton, and brought with her a female slave, by name Pamelia, whom she had received as a present from her son, then residing on the island of Jamaica. Mr. Meriam was sorely troubled by the treatment which this colored woman received from his mother-in-law. On one occasion, seeing Mrs. Fitch strike and otherwise maltreat her, he asked her for what price she would sell her slave to him. She answered, " A hundred dollars." He at once paid the price, and instantly gave Pamelia her freedom. She preferred to remain with him, and did so till his death. After this, she went to Little Cambridge (Brighton), where she married, and finally died at a very advanced age. According to her own testimony, she was born in Africa, stolen from her parents while a child, and carried to Jamaica, where she became the property of Mr. Fitch. The act of Mr. Meriam is in harmony with the kind and peaceable character
*A glimpse of Newton life is found in a vote passed in March, 1769, providing that "Mr. Meriam's wood-cutting be the first Tuesday in October; if foul, the next fair day."
Alden Espeare.
229
NEW CHURCH ROLL.
ascribed to him, and marked him, at that early period, as a prac- tical abolitionist.
The fire which consumed Mr. Meriam's house originated, as was said, among some corn cobs in the garret, and was discovered while the family were at supper. The table around which they were sitting was taken out of the house with its furniture and food disposed upon it. The table is still in possession of Mrs. John Kenrick, whose father-in-law, Mr. John Kenrick, married Mr. Meriam's daughter.
The burning of Mr. Meriam's house gave to the people of his charge an opportunity, which they cheerfully and generally em- . braced, to afford their pastor liberal aid in rebuilding on the same site. The new house, after his decease, passed into the hands of · his successor in the ministry, the Rev. Dr. Homer, who occupied it during his entire lifetime in Newton. It stood on Centre Street, midway between the mansions of the Hon. Alden Speare, second mayor of the city of Newton, and Thomas Nickerson, Esq. The two large acacias, still (1880) flourishing, were at the sides of the path leading to the front door. The house was removed to a par- allel street westward. and was occupied for many years as a farm house by the heirs of Martin Morse, Esq.
After the burning of the Church Records, Mr. Meriam com- menced a new book of Records, supplying the loss of the former, as far as possible, through the memories of official persons and the older members of the church. A committee of twelve was ap- pointed, "to inquire who are church members, and who have owned the covenant, not being in full communion, * to be put on record." These twelve members of the committee evidently represented every locality in the town. Undoubtedly, at a period when the com- munity embraced many sexagenarians, not to say octogenarians, and when there was little dispersion of families, the sons generally
* These persons were included in the half-way covenant, so called. The early settlers, anxious to preserve the purity of the government, allowed none to vote or hold political office, except such as were church members, and regular communicants at the Lord's Supper. In process of time, there were many excellent persons, of sober life and true worth, who, on account of doubts of their own spiritual estate, were too conscientious to partake of the sacrament. But their fellow-citizens desired their servi- ces in the administration of the government, and thought them as worthy to exercise the right of suffrage as church members were. Hence they invented the half-way cove- nant, so called, which allowed such persons a condition of quasi-church membership, without requiring them, as if in full communion, to partake of the Lord's Supper. And thus they came to enjoy all the rights of citizenship.
230
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
settling near their fathers' homesteads,- this reproduction of the church list was very full and accurate. Probably very few, if any, names were omitted.
In 1773, the committee reported the names of seventy-eight males and one hundred and thirty females, total two hundred and eight, as members in full communion, which were so registered. Mr. Meriam also recorded the names of baptized children, with the names of their parents, without date, as given in by parents and others, after the Records had been destroyed. The number of children in this list is eight hundred and fifty-six.
The above catalogues show, first, that the families of those early denizens were, as a general rule, very fruitful. Many of them register the names of ten, eleven, or twelve, each, of the olive plants which grew around their tables. They show also that the custom of bringing their children to the altar was highly valued by the parents, and generally observed. The names of church members in the new catalogue, indicate that the same disproportion existed in that age as in later times, in the comparative numbers of males and females who were church members, the latter being nearly double the former. Seven persons are set down as having joined the church in 1774, and two in 1777; of the former, the last on the list is Pomp, the slave of Mr. Jackson, who is referred to in the chapter on the period of the Revolutionary War.
Dr. Homer says of Mr. Meriam that "he was reputed a scholar of considerable talents, and had a happy skill in composition. His natural temper was mild and amiable. He was charitable to the distressed, with a peculiar tenderness for the reputation of others, and studied peace through life." The Hon. William Jackson says of him, -" Aged people who attended his ministry state that his church prayers were mostly repetitions, being nearly the same, Sunday after Sunday and year after year. He spoke rather slowly, with a slight impediment, was easily persuaded, a man of not much influence or force of character, having a quiet and easy tempera- ment and a peaceable disposition." He died of consumption August 13, 1780, aged fifty years, having borne the sufferings of his last sickness with much patience. His pastorate continued twenty- two years and five months. His remains rest in a tomb in Boston, belonging to the family of Mrs. Meriam, and a monument was erected to his memory in Newton.
231
SECOND PARISH PROPOSED.
A committee of the town was appointed to make provision for the funeral of Mr. Meriam. Col. Benjamin Hammond lent £195, towards the expenses. The expenses indicated are £60, paid Dea. Bowles, "for making a coffin," and £31 paid Joshua Murdock, "for half a barrel of beer and half a cord of wood for the fu- neral." In the hot month of August, the only use of so much wood must have been for culinary consumption.
Signs of advancement marked the ministry of Mr. Meriam. The new Records imply that the musical taste of the people was begin- ning to receive cultivation, and that new sacred tunes were finding their way into public worship. Nov. 6, 1770, Samuel Woodward and Deacon Stone were appointed choristers .. It was also voted " that a medium be observed between the old and new tunes. If any uneasiness arise with regard to that medium, they may consider of it hereafter, if they judge proper, -the chorister to be judge for the present."
About the same time the Deacons Greenwood, Ward and Stone, with Mr. Miller and the pastor, were appointed to consider a petition respecting the introduction of the version of the Psalms by Tate and Brady, "with the hymns thereto annexed." The committee reported in favor of the introduction, and the report was agreed to. It was also during this period that it was voted "that trees be set out to shade the meeting-house, if any persons will be so generously minded as to do it."
It was while Mr. Meriam was pastor that a movement was com- menced and consummated for the establishment of two parishes in Newton, the East and the West. As early as 1767, Jonathan Williams and others petitioned the town that a sum of money might be granted to support preaching in the meeting-house in the west part of the town during the winter season. The petition was not granted ; but in 1778, eleven years later, by Act of the Gen- eral Court passed in October, the line was drawn, establishing and defining the West Parish, -" beginning upon the bank of Charles River, at the southeasterly corner of a farm possessed by Samuel Woodward, thence by a direct line to the southeasterly part of land improved by Daniel Fuller, and to continue the same straight course to Watertown line."
The First Baptist church in Newton, - an event for those days, - was organized in July, 1780, about six weeks before Mr. Meriam's death.
1
232
HISTORY OF NEWTON.
Six new pews were built in the First Parish meeting-house in 1779, slips being removed to make room for them. These pews were leased at auction at the March meeting, annually, the rent to be paid in Indian corn, not less than half a peck of corn to be accepted as a bid, and the corn to be delivered to the Treasurer. The first year the amount received was twenty-two bushels. At the next annual meeting, the corn was sold by the Moderator of . the meeting at auction, in lots, to suit purchasers ; and this custom was continued annually till 1797. In 1780, corn sold from $31.50 to $33.00 per bushel ; and in 1781, for $62.00 per bushel, depre- ciated currency.
In 1782, it sold for 4s. 6d. to 4s. 8d. In 1783, it sold for 6s. 6d. to 7s. 3d. In 1784, it sold for 3s. Od. to 3s. 3d. In 1785, it sold for 3s. 3d. to 3s. 1d. In 1786, it sold for 4s. 4d. to 4s. 8d. In 1787, it sold for 3s. 4d. to 3s. 5d. In 1788, it sold for 3s. 6d. to 3s. 9d. In 1789, it sold for 2s. 10d. to 3s.
In 1790, it sold for 3s. 7d. to 3s. 11d. In 1791, it sold for 3s. Od. to 3s. 2d. In 1792, it sold for 2s. 7d. to 2s. 9d. In 1793, it sold for 4s. Od. to 4s. 6d. In 1794, it sold for 4s.
In 1795, it sold for 4s. 2d. to 4s. 4d. In 1796, it sold for $1.03 to $1.14.
In 1797 this corn-rent was discontinued, and pew rents were paid in money ever afterwards.
The events preliminary to the war of the Revolution, the early struggles of the colonists against British oppression, the exciting town meetings of Newton, the scenes of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, and the major part of the acts of that grand period in American history which resulted in making the people a free and independent nation, - all fall within the limits of Mr. Meri- am's ministry. If he partook, - as doubtless he did partake,-of the spirit of the times, when the people of his parochial charge were on fire with patriotism, and many of them stood in the fore- front of the conflict, he must have proved himself, - as the minis- ters of New England always have done, - an ardent advocate of freedom and the rights of man. His sermons must have stirred the soldiers to arms, like the blast of a bugle. He must have been a comforter to the afflicted and bereaved, brave and hopeful in the hour of discouragement and disaster, ready to endure hard- ships with his brethren till the days of darkness were overpast, and nobly shown himself not only the Christian minister but the Christian patriot. No man could have stood in such a position, at such a time, with the clash of arms sounding all around him, without feeling the inspiration of the occasion. How gladly would
233
PULPIT SUPPLIES.
we have a few of his sermons,- how gladly would we have more profuse specimens of the pulpit eloquence of New England,- during that juncture of affairs !
During the later years of his pastorate, the health of Mr. Meriam had become so enfeebled that he was able to preach but little, and the parish were dependent upon various supplies. The follow- ing list of the persons who filled the pulpit during Mr. Meriam's sickness, and after his decease until the election of a successor, with the varying sums paid them for their services, is interesting. There was apparently no fixed rate of compensation. Nor can we affirm any thing with certainty of the complexion of the theology to which the people listened on successive Sabbaths. There was at that time no definite line drawn between orthodoxy and liberal- ism. But some of the names of the pulpit supplies, taken in connection with the history of their subsequent relations, indicate that the hearers did not lack variety in theological teaching.
NAMES.
NO. OF SABBATHIS.
COMPENSATION. £103. 10s.
2. John Prince,
5 and Fast Day,
99.
3. Caleb Gannett,
3
40. 10s.
4. Richard Roswell Eliot,
12
288.
5. Edward Sprague,
1
21. 16s.
6. Levi Whitman,
5
90.
7. Ebenezer Chaplin,
Fast Day, 9.
8. B. Bently,
2
42.
9. Elisha Fiske,
NAMES.
10. Dr. Cooper,
17. Jacob Coggin,
11. Joseph Killburn,
12. Aaron Smith,
19. Moses Damon,
13. Samuel Shuttleworth,
20. Dr. Langdon,
14. Benjamin Guild,
21. Eliphalet Porter,
15. Mr. Miller,
22. Jonathan Homer,
23. William Greenough.
The names of several of these "supplies " appear in the Trien- nial Catalogue of Harvard University.
David Daniels, H. U. 1776, d. 1827. He was never ordained.
John Prince, H. U. 1776, distinguished Unitarian minister, at Salem, d. 1836.
Caleb Gannett, probably H. U. 1763, tutor at Cambridge, d. 1818.
Richard R. Eliot, H. U. 1774, tutor at Cambridge, d. 1818.
Edward Sprague, H. U. 1770, d. 1817.
0
Levi Whitman, H. U. 1779, d. 1838.
Joseph Killburn, H. U. 1777, d. 1816.
Aaron Smith, H. U. 1777, never ordained.
Samuel Shuttleworth, H. U. 1777, d. 1834.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.