History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 201

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706

USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 201

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"IX. That the elect of God are made partakers of the re- demption purchased by Christ hy the effectual application of it to their sonls by his word and Spirit.

"X. That Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and ac- counteth their persons righteous in his sight, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but only for the perfect obe- dience and full satisfaction of Christ imputed to them by God, and received by faith alone.

" XI. That sanctification is a work of God's grace, whereby the elect are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die nnto sin and live unto righteousness.

" XII. That whomsoever God hath accepted in Jesus Christ, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere to the end and be eternally saved.

" XIII. That the grace of faith, whereby the elect are ena- blei to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought hy the ministry of the word, by which, also, and by the adminis- tration of the sacraments and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.

" XIV. That the visible church under the gospel is not con- fined to one nation as it was under the law, but consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion accord- ing to the gospel order and their children ; and is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God ; and that unto this church Christ hath given the ministry, grace, and ordinances of Gol, for the gathering and perfecting of saints to the end of the world; and doth by his own presence and pirit according to bis promise, make them effectual thereunto. " XV. That prayer, singing of psalms, and reading of the Feriptures, the sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the word, as also the due administration and worthy receiving of .he sacramenta instituted by Christ, namely, Baptism and the ford's Supper, and all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God, besides solemn fastings and thanksgivings, upon special xeasions, which are in their several times and seasons to be med in a holy and religious manner.

" XVI. That the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the alone head of wie church, hath appointed officers in bis house for the regular arrying on of the affaire of bis kingdom, and that each partic- ilar church bath power from Christ regularly to administer 61

censures to offending members, and to carry on the affairs of his visible kingdom according to his word.

"XVII. That the bodies of men after death turn to dust and see corruption, but their souls which neither die nor sleep, hav - ing an immortal substance, immediately return to God who gave them ; the souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into heaven and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell.

"XVIII. That the bodies of the just and unjust shall be raised at the last day.

" XIX. That God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world iu righteousness by Jesus Christ, in which day all persons that have lived upon earth shall appear before the judg- ment seat of Christ to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether it he good or evil.

"THE CHURCH COVENANT.

" Forasmuch as it hath pleased God, who hath commanded us to pray daily that his kingdom may come, and he advanced, and hath given direction in his holy word, and manifold en- couragements to his poor servants to seek and sct forward his worship and the concernments of his glory ; we do, therefore, personally present ourselves this day in the holy presence of God, to transact with Him this great affair of His kingdom and glory, and of our own salvation, and humbling ourselves before the Lord for all our sins and the sins of ours, earnestly praying for pardoning mercy and reconciliation with God through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the gracious presence and assistance of His holy spirit, under a deep sense of our own weakness and uuworthiness, and with an humble confidence in his favorable acceptation ; each of us for ourselves and all of us jointly together, enter into a holy covenant with God and one with one another; that is to say, We do according to the terms and tenor of the everlasting covenant first give up our- selves and our offspring unto the Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as the one only true and living God ; All-sufficient and our God, in covenant ; and unto our Lord Jesus Christ our only Saviour, our Prophet, Priest, and King ; the only media- tor of the covenant of grace, promising and covenanting through the help of His grace to cleave to God and to our Lord Jesus by faith in a way of Gospel obedience with full purpose of heart as his covenant people forever.

" And we do also by this act of confederation give up our- selves one unto another in the Lord according to the will of God, promising and engaging to cleave and walk together in holy union and communion as members of the same mystical body and as an instituted church of Christ, rightly instituted and established in the true faith and order of the Gospel ; further obliging ourselves hy this our holy covenant to keep and maintain the holy word and worship of God committed to us and endeavor faithfully to transmit it to our posterity, to cleave unto and uphold the truc gospel ministry as it is estab- lished by Jesus Christ in his church, to have it in due honor and esteem for the work's sake; to subject ourselves fully and sincerely unto the ministerial exercise of the power of Christ in the dispensation of the word, the administration of the sac- raments-the Lord's Supper-to members in full communion and without offence, and Baptism to visible church members and their infant seed, as also for the due application of the holy discipline, with love, care, and faithfulness ; watching one over another and over the children of the covenant growing up with us, and all in obedience to the blessed rule and government of our Lord Jesus Christ, the alone head of his church ; and withal we further engage ourselves to walk orderly in the way of fel- I lowship and communion with all neighhor churches, according

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to tho rules of the gospel, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be ono throughout all the churches to tho glory of God the Father.

"This our holy church covenant wo do, in most solemn man- ner, take upon our souls in all tho parts of it, with full purpose of heart as the Lord shall help us, and according to the measure of graco received, we will walk before and with God fully, steadfastly, and constantly in the discharge of all eovenant duties cach to other; and the Lord keep us forever in the thoughts and imagination of the hearts of us his poor servants to establish our hearts unto Hiw ; and the good Lord pardon every oue of us that prepareth his heart to seek the Lord God of his fathers. Amen."

The foregoing, pertaining to the earliest records, as also the " artieles of Christian faith" and " Church Covenant," are all copied from " An Historieal Account of the First Church in Middleboro', Mass.," as pub- lished in book-form by that church in 1854.

Rev. Samuel Fuller, first pastor of the First Church in Middleboro', was one of the twenty-six original English purehasers of what, with other purchases, was incorporated as a township under that name, June -, 1669, or about seven years subsequent to the date of that first purehase, and he was also among the ear- liest actual settlers of European deseent, and from the commencement of that settlement the religious teacher of those who had here come to make for them- selves a home in the wilderness.

In 1680, the next year after the return of these settlers to Middleboro' from Plymouth, where they had taken refuge in King Philip's war, Samuel Fuller, with two others of those twenty-six original purehasers, viz., John Thompson and Franeis Coombs, were elected seleetmen of Middleboro', and the same year the town voted to provide Mr. Fuller with a house-lot, to con- sist of twelve aeres of land, whereon he seemed to have already erected a house, which tradition saith stood a little east of the Dr. Sturtevant house, so called.

The town also voted to Mr. Samuel Fuller a yearly salary of twenty pounds, to be paid one-quarter in . silver and the remainder in eorn, at two shillings per bushel, or wheat at four shillings per bushel; and the town also further voted "to turn out and fenee his field, and every one that did not was to pay a bushel of corn," being actuated, as were God's still more ancient people, with zeal to rebuild the waste places of Jerusalem, so were those of this his more modern Israel to reseue from the spoil done by the red heathen, for in both instances it appears that " the people had a mind to work" (Nehemiah iv. 6).

Let it be observed that from the date of that first purchase and earliest settlement to the breaking out of King Philip's war was thirteen years, which san- guinary conflict caused the purchase to be vaeated by its English inhabitants ahnost four years, added to

which nearly sixteen years after their return were suffered to pass before this church was regularly gathered and organized, or their religious teacher or- dained as a Christian minister.

From the date at which Mr. Fuller began his labors as a religious teacher at Middleboro' until that of his ordination was evidently a period of some thirty-two years, and although he died before the elose of the same year in which he was ordained, yet had the people of Middleboro' sat under his preaching nearly thirty years.

He was interred in the ancient cemetery on " the hill," and the grave marked by a stone bearing this inseription :

" Here lyes buried ye body of ye Rev. Samuel Fuller, who departed this life Aug. ye 17th, 1695, in ye 74th year of his age. He was ye Ist minister of ye Church of Christ in Middle- borough."

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John Bennet, the first or earliest deaeon of this church, was a son of Peter Bennet, of Bristol in Eng- land, and John was probably born there in or about 1642. He emigrated to America, arriving in Vir- ginia in 1665; lived a while at Beverly, and from thenee removed to Middleboro'; ordained deacon March 8, 1695. He died March 21, 1718, aged seventy-six years. He was a seleetman of Middle- boro' in 1692, '93, '95, '97, and '98. He was elected town elerk Mareh 28, 1693, and probably served thirteen years.

Jonathan Morse was born in or near the year 1639, and died July 9, 1709, in the seventieth year of his age.

Abiel Wood was born in or about 1658, and died Oct. 10, 1719, in his sixty-first year.

Jacob Thompson was born in or near 1662, and died Sept. 1, 1726, aged sixty-four years. The his- tory of this church, published in 1854, says of him that he was " a man of distinction as a surveyor and magistrate ; he surveyed the twenty-six men's pur- chase, and divided it among the proprietors in lots, and also the proprietaries of several neighboring towns. He was a man of great weight of character, and took the lead in the deposition of Mr. Palmer. Several of his letters to neighboring ministers on that subjeet are still extant. He was considered a man of sound piety, and a pillar in the church, and greatly respected."

To be a little more explicit, Jacob Thompson (or Tomson, as he wrote his surname) was elected a se- lectman of Middleboro' in 1697, and by successive elections held that office twenty-five years. He rep- resented the town at the General Court in 1716 and 1719, and was commissioned as a justiee of the peace

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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBORO'.

for the county of Plymouth July 22, 1720. In the local militia of Middleboro' he was lieutenant as early as 1701, and captain in 1708, which office he held until 1716. the militia at that time throughout the whole town being embodied in one company, of which Capt. Jacob Thompson was the commander.

Samuel Wood was born in or about the year 1648, and died Feb. 3, 1718, in his seventieth year. He was a son of Henry Wood, and a brother of Abiel Wood. before named. Samuel Wood was elected a selectman of Middleboro' in 1684, and in 1691, '93, '94. '99, 1706, '07. 'OS, and '09.

Isaac Billington was born in or about 1643, and died Dee. 11, 1709, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.

· Samuel Eaton, born about the year 1663, died March 18, 1724, in his sixty-first year.

Samuel Cutburt, born in or near 1657, died April 17. 1069.

-John Cobb, Jr., born in or near 1659, died Oct. 8, 1727, in his sixty-eighth year.

Ebenezer Tinkham was born about 1645. He was deacon of this church as early as 1695; selectman of the town of Middleboro' in 1691, 1696, 1700.

The foregoing united with the church at its forma- tion, and the following-named soon after :

Jonathan Cobb. He was born about 1660, and died Aug. 15, 1728, aged about sixty-eight years. He was deacon of this church at an early date, but the records do not state precisely when.

John Fuller. He was a son of Rev. Samuel Ful- ler, the first or earliest pastor of this church. John Fuller was born about 1668, and died in or near 1710.

John Alden, born in or near 1674, died Sept. 29, 1730, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

PASTORS .-- Rev. Samuel Fuller, the first pastor of this church, died Aug. 17, 1695, or a little more than seven months after his ordination. Several min- isters received invitations to supply this vacant pulpit, and in August of the next year, Mr. Thomas Palmer, of Plymouth, was applied to, and engaged to preach a quarter of a year, for which he was paid thirteen pounds, and the town soon after voted him an annual salary of thirty-five pounds, and in November, 1698, the town voted "that his goods shall be brought from Plymouth at the town's charge." The precise date of his ordination is not certainly known, but it is thought to have taken place as early as 1702, and possibly a year or two before.

To the ordination or settlement of Mr. Thomas Palmer a very strenuous opposition was offered on the part of several members of the church, and committees

were chosen both by the church and the town "to devise means of a regular, comfortable, and peaceable settlement." Against Mr. Palmer the charges were brought of misbehavior in the church, and intemper- ance.

A council was called by the church ex parte, which condemned him, but this was quickly followed by a council called by the town, which council advised that " as the town earnestly desired both old and young to enjoy his ministry, he should continue his ministry until the council should more fully agree."

Finally a council of twelve churches was convened that advised the church to depose Mr. Palmer. In 1705 his salary was forty pounds, and in 1706 a like sum, " provided he continue in the work of the min- istry the whole year ; if removed, to pay him propor- tionally ;" but in November, 1706, voted, " to seek out a man for the supply of the ministry."

On the 3d of June, 1707, the town voted " to pro- vide for the ministers and messengers that are to sit in council ;" and Dec. 12, 1707, the selectmen were instructed to agree with Mr. Peter Thatcher for the work of the ministry for quarter of a year.

Rev. Peter Thacther was ordained Nov. 2, 1709, from which time he continued as pastor of this church, until his death, April 22, 1744,-a period of nearly thirty-five years.

Concerning the final proceedings in the work of de- posing Mr. Palmer, the church records, under date of June 2, 1708, say,-

" Voted, by the church of Middleborough, that in pursuance · of the advice of twelve churches in council here convened, which have declared that Mr. Thomas Palmer, the former minister and pastor, ought to be removed from the work of the gospel min- istry, and suspended from communion at the Lord's table for his scandalous immoralities ; therefore, in conformity to said advice of said council, as also upon the advice of a convention of reverend ministers at Boston, the church doth now look on Mr. Palmer as no longer their pastor, but as deposed from the ministry, and also suspended from the table of the Lord; and we withdraw from the said Mr. Palmer, and unite in our en- deavors to settle the ordinances of the gospel among us."

But Mr. Palmer, although deposed from his pas- torate and ministry, and barred also from the com- munion, was not easily or effectually disposed of, silenced, or quieted, but sued the parish for his salary, and obtained a judgment of the law of the land for the recovery of fifty-two pounds, and con- tinued to preach to a few hcarers in his own house.

Mr. Palmer ere long gave up preaching altogether, and commenced at Middleboro' the practice of medi- cine.

We shall, therefore, in this connection pursue his personal history no further, as his subsequent life being devoted to practicing instead of preaching,

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should find a place among medieal men instead of ministers.

Rev. Peter Thateher, the third pastor of the First Church in Middleboro', and in that office the immedi- ate suecessor of Rev. Thomas Palmer, was born at Milton, Mass., Oct. 6, 1688.

His father, whose Christian name he bore, was pastor of the church at Milton; his grandfather, Thomas Thateher, minister of the old South Church in Boston, and great-grandfather of Peter Thatcher, a Puritan divine in Salisbury, England. Peter Thateher, the Middleboro' minister, graduated at Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., in 1706.

He began his ministry at Middleboro', in Septem- ber, 1707, and was chosen pastor of the church June 30, 1708, or a little before he had attained to twenty years of age. He was ordained Nov. 2, 1709. He was united in marriage Jan. 25, 1711, with Mary, a daughter of Samuel Prince, Esq., then of Rochester, but afterwards of Middleboro'. She was a sister of Rev. Thomas Prinee, pastor of the old South Church, Boston, greatly distinguished as a chronologist and historian.

Rev. Mr. Thateher, of Middleboro', is said to have had an excellent library, and reputed a hard student, laborious pastor, and sound preacher. His death occurred April. 22, 1744. The house occupied by Rev. Mr. Thatcher in Middleboro' was burned Feb. 3, 1780. Rev. Israel W. Putnam, in a discourse preached to this church on the one hundred and fifty- first anniversary, Jan. 5, 1845, said, eoneerning Mr. Thateher,-

" He began to preach to this church and people in circum- stances of great difficulty, inasmuch as Mr. Palmer continued for some time to preach in a private house to a portion of the people who adhered to him, notwithstanding the course which had heen pursued with him hy the church.

" But Mr. Thatcher came to this place in the spirit of his master. His aim was to preach the gospel, and so highly did he commend himself in that character that on June 30, 1708, he was chosen hy the church as their pastor before he was twenty years old. His ordination, however, did not take placo until Nov. 2, 1709.

" Mr. Thatcher brought to the work of the ministry hero a mind of strong native powers, and highly cultivated hy the un- common advantages he enjoyed under the instruction of his reverend father, whoso library is said to have heen richly furnished with the works of the learned and pious Puritan authors, and whose house was a great resort of the most emi- nent ministers of the day.

" But, heside a mind thus well disciplined for his work, he had a heart to lovo it. His soul was deoply imbued with the spirit of the gospel, and, from inclination as well as from a sonse of duty, he gave himself wholly to his work, and truly may it be said of him that his profiting appeared to all. llis knowledge of the Scriptures was deep, his manner of presenting divino truth to the minds of his pceple was clear, persuasive, and convincing, his addresses at the throne of grace were humhle,

solemn, and ardent, his life was circumspect and eminently Christian.

" As we might expect, God hlessed the lahors of such a man. Under his ministry the church constantly increased for many years in numhers and in strength. But toward the close of his life he hecame much discouraged by what he considered a grow- ing indifference to spiritual things in the church and among the people.

" He seriously contemplated preaching a farewell sermon and leaving his charge, and declared to his hiographer that he should have done it had he not heen embarrassed in finding a suitable text. But this season of discouragement was not long, for in 1741 he saw among the people of his own charge the beginning of that reviving work of God which continued for more than two years.

"The outpouring of the spirit here was sudden, powerful, ex- tensive, and long continued.

"With all the powers of his hody, mind, and heart he en- gaged, at home and ahroad, in the work of that memorable re- vival of religion.

" He lahored in gathering in its glorious fruits till his strength was finally exhausted. His death occurred Apr. 22d, 1744, in fifty-sixth year of his age, in the thirty-fifth of his ministry, and just hefore the expiration of the first half-century of this church's existence. He was interred in his own Tomb, then, and till recently, the only one in the Burying-ground near his house.

" How great a loss was such a man to the people of his charge, and how deeply lamented hy them was his death ! But less than I have now said of him could not he omitted, while I was en- deavoring to show you that God had graciously hestowed on this church a truly evangelical ministry."

During the ministry of Rev. Mr. Thateher in Mid- dleboro', about four hundred and thirty persons were added to this church, of which more than one hun- dred were brought in at a revival that took place in 1728, but that which acquired the name of the "Great Awakening" occurred from 1740 to 1742, when about one hundred and twenty-five were gath- ered in. It may not, in this connection, be amiss to notice the fact that, during the ministry of Mr. Thatcher, Mr. Thomas Palmer, who was unblessed in his connection with the ministerial office here, was happily reelaimed, as the following, from the church records, fully serves to show :

" November 13, 1737. This day Mr. Thomas Palmer, the former pastor of this church, had the censure of the church taken off, and was restored to communion by unanimous vote of the church, after hearing his confession. '

This restoration of Mr. Thomas Palmer, together with the facts in his subsequent history, afford eon- soling reflections, as the evidence of rceorded facts fully shows that he retrieved his character, and when he had come to be older was also a wiser and better man.

The death of Rev. Mr. Thateher was immediately succeeded by some very severe trials for this church. A revival of religion like that experienced in the

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three last years of his life could scarcely be expected to take place without exciting some feelings of hos- tility on the part of those who did not sympathize with its character and spirit. Such persons, singular as it may appear, though few in numbers, were mem- bers of this church, and became active in inducing the parish to take an unprecedented course in the choice and settlement of another minister, which innovation the church resisted, and, as the event showed, success- fully. yet the occurrence was for a time disastrous, as it occasioned a division in the parish, a majority of whom, with a small minority of the church, kept the control of the meeting-house, and procured preaching for themselves.

The church. in the mean time, with the other part of the people, proceeded in the settlement of the Christian ministry. Leaving the meeting-house in a peaceable manner, they withdrew and worshiped for a time in a private dwelling.

The church at first invited as their minister Peter Thatcher, the old pastor's son, but for some reason, not. perhaps. fully explained, withdrew that call, and sent one to Rev. Sylvanus Conant, who came to Mid- dleboro' in September, 1744.

The parish now asserted its legal rights by inviting another candidate for their minister, Mr. Conant preaching in the same house with the other candidate, one occupying the pulpit in the forenoon and the other in the afternoon.

The parish then by vote refused to allow Mr. Conant to preach in the meeting-house at all, and

These troubles caused great embarrassment to the parish in paying its expenses, to meet a part of which henceforth for a time his meetings were held in the . it, the same year, voted to sell to David Simmons the former residence of the late pastor deceased, by invi- tation of his widow, who was then occupying the premises.

Mr. Conant. although called to the work of the ministry in this place in the autumn of 1744, was not ordained until the month of March in the succeeding year, when the services of his ordination were per- formed out of doors, in front of the Thatcher man- sion. The friends and supporters of Mr. Conant went resolutely at work to build a meeting-house upon the " Upper Green," which was raised July 17, 1745, and ere long finished so as to accommodate the Rev. Mr. Conant and his worshiping congregation.

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History of Plymouth county, Massachusetts, with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 201

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1706

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1706