USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Westminster > History of Westminster, Massachusetts (first named Narragansett no. 2) from the date of the original grant of the township to the present time, 1728-1893, with a biographic-genealogical register of its principal families > Part 16
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"[I. In your frequent] preaching against the Doctrine [of original sin ] and declaring yt the gilt of that sin did not descend to Adam's posterity.
"[2. In what you say about] the translation of some [texts of Scripture ] and not allowing them to be [what has usually been believed concerning them ].
"3. In your Rigerously Disapling of the Church and in your paying no Regard to the vote of the Church and in [proceeding] in the administration of your office when you Could obtain no vote for the same in the Church particularly in breaking over the vote of the Church passed in Relation to the Baptism of Children; and Resident Members partaking of the Sacra- ments without a Satificate from the Pastors of those Churches [which] they stand Related unto.
"4. In your Justifieing and pleading for Some passage in the Rev. Mr. Rogers' Sermon Intitled Spiritual [Conversion ].
"5. In your Saying that mankind are more naturally inclined to Good than Evil.
"These are some of the articles in which we are agreed and to which we Subscribe.
" JOSEPH HOLDEN, JOSEPH MILLER,
EBENEZER TAYLOR,
ANDREW DARBY,
PHILIP BEMIS,
EBENEZER CONANT,
DAVID DUNSTER,
ABNER HOLDEN, THOMAS CONANT,
JOHN RAND, JOSIAH CUTTING, SETH HERRINGTON,
JOHN BROOKS, MOSES STEARNS, JONAS WINSHIP,
THOMAS STEARNS,
JAMES TAYLOR,
JOSIAH JACKSON."
It is worthy of remark that these names represent many of the most active and substantial people of the township, and possibly a majority of the male members of the church - names that would have influence wherever they were known.
In giving judgment in the case, the council pronounced in favor of the complainants, censuring Mr. Marsh and advising that he have four months allowed him in which either to retract his errors or otherwise make satisfaction. In default of this, it was recommended that, at the expiration of the time designated, the church proceed to dissolve the pastoral relation existing between Mr. Marsh and the people of his charge.
The four months passed away and nothing had been done by Mr. Marsh to reinstate himself in the favor and confidence of his opponents. Whereupon, on the 11th of the next April, the church formally voted to dismiss him from his pastorate, and on the 4th of May the propriety took action approving and con-
121
REV. MR. MARSH DISMISSED.
firming the same. In the notice of the meeting of that date, the facts in regard to the doings of the council and to the vote of the church were stated and supplemented by an article "to Know the minds of the proprietors of said Township whether they will Concur or Non-concur with said vote, that so the Church and propriety may proceede to an orderly Re-settlement of the Gospel and special ordinances in Said place."
The vote upon this article was taken by written ballot, the record states, and "passed in the afarmative by a Greate major- ity." It was also voted at this meeting "to grant money to Support the Gospel," and Dea. Joseph Miller, Mr. John Rand, and Mr. Andrew Darby were chosen a committee to provide for the supply of the pulpit. Two months later, July 5th, it was voted "to give Mr. Elisha Marsh £24 7s. 6d. as his Salary from the Twentieth Day of October 1757 to the fourth Day of May Last, on which Day, Mr Marsh was Dismissed from the worke of the Ministry in this place."
This action by the proprietors and by a majority of the church was supposed to be final-not only to cancel all pecun- iary obligations to Mr. Marsh, but to terminate all relations with him as a pastor in their midst. Not so, however, Mr. Marsh himself. He maintained that the action of both church and propriety in dismissing him was informal, contrary to the usage of the New England churches, and therefore invalid. He claimed that a council settled him, that only a council could dismiss him, and that, as he was not so dismissed, he was still the rightful minister of Narragansett No. 2, authorized to exercise all the functions of that office, but whether exercising them or not, if prevented from doing so by others, still entitled to his salary.
From the letter given below, it appears that he attempted to continue his ministerial work after the date at which it was voted that said work was to terminate, and that, being remon- strated with, he persisted in his course, impelling the aggrieved to appeal to legal authority for advice in regard to restraining him by a resort to due processes at law. The response to this appeal explains itself :
"Sir. I have examined ye vote of ye Council and of the Church and proprietors of Narraganset No. 2, and if Mr Marsh did not comply with ye advise of ye Council I am of opinion That ye Church and proprietors might dismiss him & if their meetings were regularly warned and their Votes for That purpose are Sufficient & if Mr Marsh had notice thereof he ought not to have Attempted to officiate as ye minister of that people against Their will as he did, & for that his misbehavior and to prevent ye like for ye future he may and ought to be bound to his good behavior, but I should think it advisable that ye justice you apply to should send for him before he issued his warrant and if Mr. Marsh will Engage not to attempt ye like for ye future but suffer such person as shall be procured to dispense God's Word to that people to proceed Quietly therein. Then I think it best not to issue any Warrant, but if he refuses to engage to do it, Then That he be bound to his Good behavior.
" Mr. Holden.
Yours, EDMUND TROWBRIDGE."
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
Nothing further appears in regard to the feature of the case presented in this letter. It is to be presumed that Mr. Marsh quietly submitted to the inevitable and made no further attempts to officiate as minister of the place. But he did not give up the idea that the action of the church and propriety was out of ecclesiastical order and contrary to the laws of the province, and that he had, therefore, a legal right to his salary and could collect it by due process of law. Waiting till another full year came round, that is, till October, 1758, he then put in a claim for the remainder of his annual stipend, according to the terms of the original contract. This claim not being rec- ognized, he brought an action against the propriety, not only for that sum, but for deficiencies in the payments of previous years, to the aggregate amount of £100 lawful money. Where- upon the proprietors held a meeting, Jan. 17, 1759, and chose Dea. Joseph Miller, Abner Holden, and John Rand a committee to make answer to the suit before the court, and "Impowered them to Imploy one or more attorneys as the Cause may require and to Defend Said Cause till final Judgment and Execution."
The committee secured counsel whose name does not appear, but whose "brief" has been preserved, showing that the defense was ably managed. Mr. Marsh, however, gained the case, though the award, instead of being the £100 claimed by him, was only £15 and costs. From this verdict, Mr. Marsh ap- pealed to the superior court.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the committee, Deacon Miller, had written to Mr. John Hunt of Watertown, one of the non-resident proprietors and a man of wide reputation for high character, practical wisdom, and sagacity, for advice in regard to the course to be pursued in the controversy. The reply was very sharp and caustic in its condemnation of the opponents of Mr. Marsh, but is too lengthy for reproduction. Two or three ex- tracts are quoted to show its spirit and style. "I cannot con- ceive," says Mr. Hunt, "who were your advisers. I Looked upon you as a Man of some Sense, Prudence, as well as Hon- esty. But as for Father Holden, I had not that opinion of Him. And really wonder the proprietors Have Confided in Him so much. Especially you who were on the Spott and thoroughly knew Him." "I beg of you not to be so headstrong as to Burthen us with such unnecessary Charges as must attend such foolish proceeding."
Previous to the time when the appeal of Mr. Marsh was to come before the higher court, the judges and counsel in the case advised an arbitration of three gentlemen named by the court, to whose discretion and judgment all matters in controversy should be referred for final adjustment. To this proposition the committee gave their consent. But when they reported their doings in this respect to the propriety, at a meeting held Oct. 16, 1759, they were taken severely to task, and directed
123
THE EX-MINISTER AS PRIVATE CITIZEN.
not to submit the case to an arbitration "on any terms." Never- theless, the proprietors afterwards relented, and the dispute was heard and judgment rendered by a board of arbitrators. The award made to the court was that the proprietors should pay Mr. Marsh £60 and costs, amounting in all to £85 15s. 5d. There was some delay in the payment of this award, and Mr. Marsh, becoming impatient, caused an execution to be served upon the proprietors, who canceled it by a vote raising the sum due and ordering it to be paid, Oct. 28, 1761. And so closed the last scene of the serio-farcical drama of the pastorate of Rev. Elisha Marsh in Narragansett No. 2,-all claims on both sides being finally met and adjusted.
Mr. Marsh remained in Westminster till 1770, acting the part of a private citizen and holding some subordinate offices in the service of the public. But things did not go on altogether pleasantly with him. Some of the old roots of bitterness and alienation were undoubtedly left on both sides, and they occa- sionally manifested themselves openly. His taxes were at one time left unpaid, and the assessors ordered Joshua Bigelow, Constable, "to take into safe custody the body of Elisha Marsh and comit him to the Worcester Co. Jail for default" thereof. He probably escaped the odium of imprisonment by a proper attention to the demands of the collector. Later on, he had trouble with John Rand, afterwards Colonel Rand of Revolu- tionary times, and entered a complaint before one of the justices of the province "that the said John with force and arms did make a violent assault upon the body of the sd Elisha (he being then in the Peace of our Sovereign Lord &c. and about his lawful business in the Public Meeting House &c.) and him shooked, pushed, and pulled, and uttered Many Menaces and threatening speeches, thereby putting him in great fear and peril &c." Rand plead not guilty, but the magistrate judged otherwise and fined him five shillings and costs. The accused appealed to the Worcester court, where the former proceedings were pronounced informal and he was set free.
In the year named, 1770, Mr. Marsh removed to Walpole, N. H., where, although then 57 years of age, he took up the profession of law, for which he seemed better fitted by nature, mental habits, and predominating temper, than he was for the ministry, and in which he attained considerable success, becom- ing in a few years judge of the court of common pleas for Cheshire county. The termination of his life occurred as an- nounced in the Massachusetts Spy for Aug. 5, 1784: "Died in Lancaster, Elisha Marsh, Esq., of Walpole N. H., occasioned by a fall from a horse a few weeks before at Roxbury." He seems to have so far rallied from the effects of his accident as to get back to the residence of the relatives of his wife, among whom he breathed his last in the 72d year of his age.
Of the family of Mr. Marsh little is known. He married,
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
according to the "Marsh Genealogy," (1) Widow Deborah Lothrop of Boston, by whom he had Elisha and Sarah and per- haps other children. Elisha had a son, Luther, who settled in Pompey, N. Y., and who also had a son, Luther, now living in New York City. Sarah married Thomas Brigden, Esq., and resided for a time in Westminster, then, in 1773, removed to Charlestown, where her husband soon died without issuc. She survived him but a little while. Mr. Marsh married (2) Mrs. Susannah, widow of Samuel Willard of Lancaster who was killed in the French and Indian War, the daughter of Ephraim Wilder, also of Lancaster. By her he had one son, and possibly others, whose grandsons, Benjamin and Charles, were formerly mem- bers of the well-known house of Jordan, Marsh & Co., Boston.
It is a difficult task to give an adequate analysis and estimate of the life and character of the first minister of the township, whose history the pages of this volume record. The materials for such a service are scanty and imperfect. So far as is known, he left no memorials of himself, and no contemporary has trans- mitted to posterity any account of him whatever. Only hasty glimpses of him, seen through the mists and shadows of a cen- tury and a half, serve as the data by which the accompanying portraiture is outlined and developed into something like sym- metry and completeness.
Mr. Marsh was, beyond question, a man of good natural abili- ties, disciplined and sharpened by the best scholastic training of his time. A man, too, he must have been, of independent thought, expressing itself in clear-cut, decided opinions, which he did not hesitate to declare and defend whenever he felt the occasion required, though not always, perhaps, in the most dis- creet, inoffensive, and effectual way. Rather, it would seem, was he inclined, especially if goaded to utterance, to assert his views with not only warmth and zeal, but with such incisiveness and pungency as were calculated, if not designed, to rouse rather than foreclose opposition, and to provoke and increase hostility rather than conciliate and allay it. He had a some- what inflammable temper and a resolute will, was easily stirred to a sense of personal indignity and wrong, as well as determined and irrepressible in his purpose to carry to the last issue what- ever cause or interest he was induced to espouse. Jealous of his rights as a man and a minister, he would allow no inter- ference therewith, but resented every encroachment upon his proper prerogatives with emphatic and unmistakable condemna- tion, in language, sometimes, it may be, more forcible than polite-more expressive than agreeable to fastidious ears and tastes. He evidently wielded a Damascus blade, sharpening his rebuke with sarcasm, and his condemnation ofttimes with indignant and supercilious scorn. It would not be strange if he now and then overstepped the bounds of proper speech in
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THEOLOGY OF REV. MR. MARSI.
this regard, and delivered himself in a way not altogether becoming himself and the office he assumed to fill. He seemed to be more familiar with the denunciations and terrors of the law than with the gentleness and grace of the gospel. And yet there are no evidences of insincerity on his part, or of un- faithfulness to his own convictions of duty and of right. No proofs of duplicity have been brought to light, or of persistent violation of the principles of integrity and honor; and there is no warrant for supposing that he was governed otherwise than by pure motives and worthy aims in life. His general excel- lence of character and elevation of spirit may be admitted and allowed, as also his deep and fervent piety.
In his theological opinions, Mr. Marsh belonged, as has been intimated already, to the Arminian or liberal wing of the New England church of his time, as contra-distinguished from the more conservative or ultra Calvinistic element within its com- munion, and might be regarded as a forerunner of the "New Departure" or Andover school party in the Trinitarian Congre- gational denomination of the present day. And this seemed really to be the head and front of his offending in the con- troversy between himself and his people. Saving some indis- cretions on his part, and some unfortunate personalities growing out of a quick temper and a sharp tongue not always held to a proper control, the offenses with which he was charged were of a doctrinal character ; either an open denial or alleged neglect of some of the avowed principles or tenets of the more rigidly Puritanic household of faith, as then interpreted; or delinquin- cies and faults of speech or conduct growing out of such denial or neglect. On this ground he was brought before the council in 1747, when he was vindicated on every charge made against him, save one ; and on the same ground he was finally adjudged in error by the council of 1757, whose verdict was made the occasion of his dismissal a few months afterward from the pastoral office. Yet it would seem, as before suggested, that he was every way better fitted for the bar than for the pulpit, and could prove his native ability and power of usefulness in the world much better by his second choice of a profession than by the first. In that he certainly found a greater amount of that freedom from personal embitterment and strife, a larger measure of that peace and quietude, which become more grate- ful and are more prized as one descends from the summit of life towards its setting sun. With this brief delineation of the character and standing of the Rev. Elisha Marsh, the first min- ister of the township of Narragansett No. 2, now Westminster, and this estimate of him as a man and as a religious teacher, we bid him a long and respectful farewell.
CHAPTER IX.
THE DISTRICT OF WESTMINSTER.
NEW REGIME INAUGURATED-END OF THE PROPRIETY, ETC. - INCORPORATION COMPLETED.
THE Act of Incorporation, erecting the township known for twenty-five years as Narragansett No. 2 into the District of Westminster, clothed with all the rights and privileges of local self-government under the laws of the province and of parliament, but not with the prerogative of representation in the general court, was made effectual by the approval of Governor Pownall, Oct. 20, 1759. Six days afterward the following call was issued for a meeting to organize the new municipality and start it out on its destined career, to wit :
" WORCESTER, SS. To Capt. Danel Hoar of the Destrict of Westminster In the County of Worcester, and one of the Principal Inhabitants of Said District, Greeting -
" Whereas In and by a Law of this Province of the Massachusetts Bay In New England made in Present year of the Kings Reighn for Erecting a New Plantation Called Narragansett No. 2 in the County of Worcester into a Seperate District By the Name of Westminster, I the Subscriber one of his majestys Justices of the Pece for said County was Impowered in and By said act to Issue my Warrant Directed to Sume Princeple Inhabitant of Said Destrict Requireing him to Notifie and Warn all the Inhabitants of Said Distrect qualified By Law to Vote in town affairs to meet and Choose all Such offisers as Shall Be Nesserey to manage the affairs of Said Dis- trict.
" These are therefore in his majesty's Name to Require you the Said Danel Hoar to Notifie and Warn the freholders and other Inhabitants of Said District qualified to vote in town afairs to meet at the Publick meeting- house in Said Destrict on the fourteenth Day of November Next at ten of the Clock in the forenoone then and there to Chouse a moderator for said meeting and all Such offissers as Shall be Nesecary to manage the affairs of Said Destrict and Which Towns By Law are obliged to Chuse at their an- nual meeting In March-Said Warning to be Given fourteene Days Before the meeting.
" Given under my Hand and Seal at Lancaster this twenty-six Day of October anno Domini 1759, and in the thirty third year of his Present majesties King Gorge the Second Reighn &c.
"WILLIAM RICHARDSON.
" In obedience to the within Warant I have Warned all the free Holders and others inhabitants to appear at the meting upon Wednesday the 14 Day of November Next to chuse all Such offices as the Law Directs.
"DANIEL HOAR.
" Westminster October ye 30: 1759."
[127
MEETINGS OF THE DISTRICT OF WESTMINSTER.
Pursuant to this warrant the legal voters came together and transacted business of which the following is a copy of the record :
"At a meeting of the Inhabitants of the District of Westminster on November ye 19: 1759 Legally assembled at the meeting House for to Chouse town officers as the Law Directs, and then Proceeded and Chose Capt. Daniel Hoar for a moderator to manige Said meeting.
"T'oted and Chose Joseph Miller for a Clark for the District til a nother be Chose and Sworn in his Roome Sworn.
"Voted and Chose Joseph Miller, Capt. Daniel Hoar, Andrew Darby, Ensn Richard Graves, Left Samuel Whitney for Selectmen.
"Voted that Capt. Daniel Hoar, Joseph Miller and Andrew Darby Be the assessors Sworn.
"Voted and Chose Joseph Holden Junr for Treasurer Sworn.
"T'oted and Chose Daniel Walker, John Woodward for Constables Sworn.
"L'oted and Chose John Whealor for a Seallor of weights and mesures.
"l'oted and Chose William Bemis Thomas Conant Josiah Cutting for tithingmen Sworn.
"L'oted and Chose Left Samuel Whitney Nathan Wood Capt. Daniel Hoar William Bemis Thomas Conant for Surveyers of high ways Sworn.
"Voted and Chose Nathan Wood, Elisha Bigelow for fence veuers.
"L'oted and Chose Edman Bemis, Ruben Miles for Dearreifts Sworn.
"T'oted and Chose David Bemis, John Miles Hogg Reaves.
"Voted and Chose Nathan Wood, John Estabrooks for fielddrivers.
"T'oted and Chose Nathan Wood, Benjamin Butterfield for Surveyers of Bords and Shingles.
"Voted and Chose Richard Newton for a Seallor of Leather then the Moderator Desolved the meeting.
"JOSEPH MILLER District Clark."
A second meeting, for the transaction of other business nec- essary to the efficient working of the new district, was called by the constables upon an order of the selectmen dated Dec. 10, 1759, as attested by the clerk, of the proceedings of which the record is as follows :
" At a meeting of the Inhabitants of the District of Westminster upon ye twenty fourth Day of December 1759 Being Leagally Assembled
" 1. made Choice of mr. andru Darby for a Moderator for to Manige Said meeting.
"gly. V'oted that the Annual Meetings be on the first monday in march.
" 3ly. Voted that the meetings be warned by Setting up Notifications four- teene Days before the meeting at the Meeting house.
" Aly. Voted that they will Purchis three Books for the use of the District one for a Book of Records and a tresurer's Book and one to Enter Births and Deaths Voted that one Pound four Shillings Be Assessed with the Six Pounds Granted for a Schoole In the same assessment the Claus of Providing a town Stock Passed in the Negitive the Claus for Bulding of a Pound Pased in the affirmytive upon the Claus of making of Stocks Pased in Negitive And upon the Claus of Provideing of Wieghts and measers the vote Pased in the affirmytive.
" 5ly. l'oted that they will Chuse a Commity also voted and chose Deacon Holden Left Nicholas Dike Josiah Cutting for a Commity for to Provide Preaching and gave the Commity the following Directtions that they apply to Mr. Hancok for three Saboth and three to Mr. Jobe Whitney and Mr. Rice for three Saboth Each.
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HISTORY OF WESTMINSTER, MASS.
"Gly. Voted that they will have a Reading and Riting Schoole for three months in the middel of the town Voted that Six Pounds Be assesed and Leavied on the Inhabitants of the District of Westminster for the use of a Schoole in Sd District.
" zly. l'oted and Chose Abner Holden Nathan Wood be a Commity for to make Answer at the Grate and General Cort to git the Non-residants Lands taxt and then the meeting was Desolved.
"JOSEPH MILLER District Clark."
The district was now duly organized and equipped for service in its own proper field of action and responsibility. The citi- zens had begun to adjust themselves to the new order of things, and were coming into an understanding of their mutual rela- tions and duties, and preparing themselves for acting agreeably to the laws of the province in the line of the best interests of the community, in both the public and more private walks of life.
Previous to taking up and presenting in their order the var- ious interests and affairs of the district of Westminster, it seems desirable to submit a statement of the general conditions, numerically and otherwise, under which the newly incorporated body started out on its then unknown career. By the consider- ate care and thoughtfulness of Dea. Joseph Miller, one of the first board of assessors, a copy of the first tax list, dated Dec. 17, 1759, has been preserved, furnishing interesting data for this purpose. It is not necessary to give the names appearing on that list, inasmuch as they are indicated with sufficient clear- ness by a star (*) in the catalogue of early settlers to be found at the close of Chapter VI, pp. 92, 93, but only to present some general facts derived from it.
Of the seventy male tax payers there mentioned, who consti- tuted essentially the voting citizens of the district, the largest in their order were Daniel Hoar, Reuben Miles, Eliezer Bige- low, John Miles, Joseph Miller, John Estabrook, Nathan Parker, Richard Graves, Samuel Whitney, Joseph Holden, Jr., Thomas Stearns, John Rand.
The largest owners of real estate, according to the same authority, were Daniel Hoar, Reuben Miles, Nathan Parker, Eliezer Bigelow, Joseph Holden, Jr., Joseph Miller, John Miles, Nathan Whitney, John Estabrook, Samuel Whitney, John Rand, Richard Graves.
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