USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > History of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts : from its earliest settlement to 1832; and of the adjoining towns, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln, and Carlisle; containing various notices of county and state history not before published. > Part 16
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Concord > History of the town of Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts : from its earliest settlement to 1832 : and of the adjoining towns, Bedford, Acton, Lincoln, and Carlisle > Part 16
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" I could wish you would write to Mr. Goodwin to deal with those that are in place of authority in England, to take care that the Scripture may be printed more. truly. I have a bible, printed 1648, which hath (little and great) above an 100 faults in the printing of it. And I have an old Bible, printed 1581, which hath but one or two, and those very small ones. I intend to write to my nephew, St. John, about it. A word from yourself to Mr. Goodwin, who is a man of so much respect there, would do much good."
The Rev. PETER BULKELEY, B. D., was of honorable and noble descent. He was of the tenth generation from Robert Bulkeley, Esq., one of the English Barons, who, in the reign of king John (who died in 1216), was lord manor of Bulkeley in the county palatine of Chester.1 He was born at Woodhill, in Bedfordshire, January 31, 1583. His father, the Rev. Edward Bulkeley, D. D., was a faithful minister of the gospel, under whose direction his son received a learned and religious education, suited to his distinguished rank. About the age of sixteen he was admitted a member of St. John's College at Cambridge, of which he was afterwards chosen fellow, and from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. He succeeded his father in the ministry in his native town, and enjoyed his rich benefice and estate ; where he was a zealous preacher of evangelical truth about twenty years, and, for the most part of the time, lived an
1 The names of the lincal descendants from Robert, furnished me by Charles Bulkeley, Esq., of New London, a great grandson of Gershom, were, 1. William ; 2. Robert ; 3. Peter, who married Nicholaus Bird, of Haughton; 4. John, who married Andryne, daughter and heir to John Colley, of Ward, and died 1450 ; 5. Hugh, who married Hellen Wilbriham, of Woodley ; 6. Humphrey, who married Cyle, daughter and heir of John Mutten ; 7. William, who married Beatryce, daughter and heir to William, of Bulausdale ; 8. Thomas, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Randelle Grovenor ; 9. Edward, D. D., of Woodhill, who married Olive Irlby, of Lincolnshire; 10. Peter, of Concord. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Paul. The latter died fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge. From William, a brother of Peter, of the third generation, were also many enno- bled descendants ; among whom are recorded, in the Irish Pcerage, seven Viscounts in succession. Other branches have been much distinguished. The motto adopted in the family coat of arms was, " Nec temere, nec ti- mide,"-"Neither rashly nor timidly "; and contains a beautiful sentiment, characteristic of the eminent father of the American family.
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[1659.
unmolested non-conformist. At length, his preaching meeting with distinguished success, and his church being very much increased, complaints were entered against him by Archbishop Laud, and he was silenced for his non-conformity to the requirements of the Eng- lish church. This circumstance induced him to emigrate to New England, where he might enjoy liberty of conscience. He arrived in Cambridge in 1634 or 1635,1 and was the leader of those reso- lute men and self-denying Christians, who soon after "went further up into the woods and settled on the plantation at Muske- taquid." Here he expended most of his estate for the benefit of his people ; and after a laborious and useful life, died March 9, 1659, in his 77th year.
Mr. Bulkeley was remarkable for his benevolence. He had many servants, on whom, after they had lived with him several years, he bestowed farms, and then received others to be treated in a like benevolent manner. By great familiarity of manners he drew around him persons of all ages ; and his easy address, great learning, and eminent piety, rendered his society pleasing and profitable to all. Persons seldom separated from his company, without having heard some remark calculated to impress the mind with the importance of religion. Though sometimes suffering under bodily infirmities, he was distinguished for the holiness of his life, and a most scrupulous observance of the duties of the Christian ministry. He avoided all novelties in dress, and wore his hair short. Being strict in his own virtues, he was occasion- ally severe in censuring the follies of others. He was considered as the father of his people, and " addressed as father, prophet, or counsellor, by them and all the ministers of the country." Had the scene of Mr. Bulkeley's labors been in Boston, or its immediate vicinity, and not, as he expresses it, "shut up " in this remote spot, then of difficult access, his name would have ap- peared more conspicuously in the published annals of the country. He was a thorough scholar ; an elevated, devotional Christian ; laborious in his profession ; and, as a preacher, evangelical, faitli- ful, and of remarkably energetic, powerful, and persuasive elo- quence.
1 The Rev. Edward Bulkeley was admitted freeman, May 6, 1635 ; and from the Cambridge Records it seems probable that Mr. Bulkeley came to America in 1634.
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He often wrote a series of sermons on a particular book or pas- sage of Scripture. One of these series, on Zachariah ix. 11, was published as " the first-born of New England," and passed through several editions. The edition before me bears the following title. " The Gospel Covenant, or the Covenant of Grace opened ; wherein are explained, 1. The difference between the covenant of grace and covenant of works. 2. The different administration of the covenant before and since Christ. 3. The benefits and blessings of it. 4. The conditions. 5. The properties of it. Preached at Concord, in New England, by Peter Bulkeley, some- time fellow of Saint John's College in Cambridge. [Here follow quotations, Genesis xvii. 1-7, and Isaiah lv. 3.] The second edition, much enlarged and corrected by the author. And the chiefe heads of things (which was omitted in the former) dis- tinguished into chapters. London, printed by Mathew Simmins, dwelling in Aldersgate-street, next door to the Golden Lion, 1651.". pp. xvi. and 442, quarto. It was dedicated " to the church and congregation at Concord" ; and to his nephew, " the Rt. Hon. Oliver St. John, Lord Embassador extraordinary from the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England to the High and Mighty Lords, the States General of the United Provinces in the Netherlands ; and Lord Chief Justice at the Common Pleas." It is a work of great merit for that age, and considering that it was . " preached in the remote ends of the earth." " The church of God," says the Rev. Mr. Shepard, of Cambridge, " is bound to bless God for the holy, judicious, and learned labours of this aged, experienced, and precious servant of Christ." After reading this book, President Stiles observes, " He was a masterly reasoner in theology, and equal to the first characters in all Christendom and in all ages."
Two of Mr. Bulkeley's manuscripts are preserved in the library of the American Antiquarian Society. One contains answers to several theological questions, and is addressed to the Rev. Mr. Phillips of Watertown. The other is on the character and gov- ernment of the church. The following analysis is given at the close of this work. Part I. " The visible church is, 1. For the efficient cause, called of God. 2. For the material cause, a num- ber of visible saints and believers in the judgment of men. 3. For the formal cause, union by an explicate and implicate covenant
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together. 4. For the final cause, to set out God's praises." Part II. " The churches' government, 1. Is originally in the people's hands. 2. Which people are to elect their own officers, - teachers, elders, and deacons. 3. By which officers they are to rule and govern, -by admitting fit members, and by watching over, admonishiing, and casting out those that be bad." This is a most able defence of Congregationalism in opposition to Episcopacy ; and touches, with the author's peculiar power and clearness, the ecclesiastical questions in discussion at that period. I can scarcely resist an inclination to extract some passages. Its publication entire is recommended to the Society to whom it belongs.
Mr. Bulkeley married, for his first wife, Jane, daughter of Sir Thomas Allen, of Goldington, whose nephew was Lord Mayor of London. By her he had nine sons and two daughters. Edward, Thomas (who married a daughter of the Rev. John Jones, re- moved to Fairfield, and died about 1652), John, Joseph, William, and Richard, are all the names I have seen mentioned. He lived eight years a widower, and then married Grace, daughter of Sir Richard Chitwood, by whom he had three sons and one daughter, - Gershom, Eleazer, Peter, and Dorothy. His wife survived him, and removed to Connecticut a few years after his death.
His will, dated February 26, 1659, appears in the Middlesex Records, in which he specifies legacies in books to his sons, Ed- ward, John, and Joseph, his cousin Samuel Hough, and his nephew Oliver St. John, " as a thankful acknowledgment of his kindness and bounty towards me ; his liberality having been a great help and support unto me in these my lonely times and my struggles." Legacies are also made to the widow of his son Thomas, deceased, and to his three youngest children, Eleazer, Peter, and Dorothy ; " and in case any of my children before named by me in this my will, to whom I have bequeathed the legacies named, shall prove disobedient to their mother, or other- wise vicious and wicked (which God in his mercy prevent), then I will that the legacy before bequeathed to any of them so proving disobedient and wicked, shall be wholly in the power of my said wife, their mother, to deal with them therein, as she herself in Christian wisdom shall think meet, either to give their legacy, or to keep it to herself." He alludes to his " wasted estate, which
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is now very little in comparison of what it was when I came first to these places," having made great sacrifices in " the beginning of these plantations," and " having little to leave to the children God hath given me, and to my precious wife, whose unfeigned piety and singular grace of God shining in her, doth deserve more than I can do for her." The inventory of his estate amounted to £1302, of which £123 was in books. He had previously given a part of his library, and some other donations, to Harvard College.
The Rev. Edward Bulkeley succeeded his father in the minis- terial care of the church with an annual salary of £80. The duties of his office increasing with the growth of the town, assis- tance was judged necessary, and the Rev. Joseph Estabrook was ordained as his colleague in 1667. His salary was also £80, of which £40 was to be paid in money, and £40 in grain, - wheat to be estimated at 5s., rye at 4s., and corn at 3s. per bushel.
March 12, 1681, the town voted, " that every householder that hath a teame, greater or lesser, shall carry yearly one load of wood to the minister ; and every other householder or votable person shall cut wood one day for the minister ; and that the wood be equally divided to the ministers as the selectmen shall appoint." The arrangement, which the following vote specifies, was made March 5, 1694. " Whereas the Rev. pastor, Mr. Ed- ward Bulkeley, is under such infirmities of body, by reason of . great age, that he is not capable of attending the work of the ministry as in times past ; being also sensible of the obligations the town is under to afford him a comfortable maintenance during the term of his natural life ; that thereby the people may testifie their gratitude for his former services in the gospel, they do hereby oblige the town to pay Mr. Bulkeley yearly, during his natural life, the sum of £30 in lieu of his former salary." This propo- sition was assented to by Mr. Bulkeley, on condition that he should have liberty to preach or not as he should choose.
The Rev. EDWARD BULKELEY was the eldest son of the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and born and chiefly educated in England. He emigrated to this country, and was admitted a member of the First Church in Boston in 1634. Having acquired a professional education under the instruction of his father, he was licensed to preach the gospel, and ordained at Marshfield in 1642 or 1643. On the death of his father in 1659, he was dismissed and in-
21
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[1696 - 1711.
stalled over the church in Concord. He died at a great age, in the 53d year of his ministry, at Chelmsford, January 2, 1696, probably on a visit to his grandson, and was buried in Concord. Few records are preserved concerning his ministry or himself. He is represented by tradition to have been lame, and of a feeble constitution. He was, however, greatly respected for his talents, acquirements, irreproachable character, and piety. He preached an Election Sermon in 1680, from 1 Sam. ii. 30 ; and one before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1679, from 1 Peter ii. 11. His only printed work, that I have seen, is that noticed in our general history, under date of 1676, preached in commemoration of the safe return of Captain Thomas Wheeler and his associates, after the battle at Brookfield.
I have not learned whom Mr. Bulkeley married. His chil- dren were John, Peter, Jane (who married Ephraim Flint), and Elizabeth, who married, in 1665, the Rev. Joseph Emerson, great grandfather of the Rev. William Emerson, hereafter to be noticed, and after Mr. Emerson's death (which took place in Concord, January 3, 1680), for a second husband, John Brown, Esq., of Reading. She was the only child of Mr. Bulkeley, it is supposed, who had issue.
The Rev. JOSEPH ESTABROOK died September 16, 1711,1 aged 71. He was born in Enfield, England, and, after receiving a pre- paratory education, emigrated to this country, entered Harvard Col- lege, and was graduated in 1664. The following obituary notice, dated September 18th, appeared in the "Boston News Letter." " This day was interred in Concord the Rev. Mr. Joseph Esta- brook, minister of the gospel in said town for about forty-four years (and for many of them was colleage with the famous Mr. Bulkeley.) He was eminent for his skill in the Hebrew language ; and a most orthodox, learned, and worthy divine, of excellent principles in re- ligion, indefatigably laborious in the ministry, and of holy life and conversation." He was a man of great worth, and eminently fitted for his office. In his preaching he was plain, practical, and per- suasive ; and in his intercourse with his people, grave, affectionate, communicative, and conciliatory, earnestly desiring their happi- ness and religious welfare. His appearance carried with it so
1 The Rev. Dr. Ripley [Half Century Sermon, p. 28.] says, 23d May. But all other authorities concur in the 16th of September.
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much patriarchal dignity, that people were induced to love him as a friend, and reverence him as a father. These distinguished traits in his character obtained for him, in the latter part of his life, the name of The Apostle. His judgment was much re- spected, and his advice sought for in all the neighbouring churches. He was much admired wherever he preached ; and was invited to remove from Concord ; for, said his admirers, " He was too bright . a star to be muffled up in the woods amongst the Indians, and ought to come to Boston where he could do more good." 1 His only printed work, which has come down to us, is an Election Sermon preached in 1705.2
Mr. Estabrook married Mary, daughter of Captain Hugh Ma- son, of Watertown, May 20, 1668 ; and had 6 children. 1. Jo- seph, born 1669, lived several years in Hingham, but settled in Lexington, where he died September 24, 1733, aged 65, having been a deacon 17 years (he was grandfather to the Rev. Joseph Estabrook, late of Athol) ; 2. Benjamin ; 3. Mary, married Jonathan Green of Newton ; 4. Samuel ; 5. Daniel, born 1676, married Abigail Flint of Concord, and settled first in Cam- bridge, but removed to Sudbury, where he died; and 6. Ann, married Joshua Haynes of Sudbury. Benjamin and Samuel will be noticed among the college graduates.3
After the death of Mr. Estabrook, a committee of the town, consisting of Deacon John Heywood, Mr. Benjamin Whittemore, and Lieutenant William Wilson, was chosen to " procure preach- ing." The Rev. Edward Holyoke, afterwards president of Harvard College, the Rev. Benjamin Prescott, one of our native graduates, and the Rev. John Whiting, were employed as candidates for
1 MSS. of the late Rev. Joseph Estabrook of Athol, and Dr. Joseph Lee. 2 It is entitled, " Abraham, the Passenger, his Privilege and Duty, de- scribed in an Election Sermon at Boston, N. E., May 30, 1705. By Joseph Estabrooks, A. M. and Pastor of the Church at Concord. [Here follow quotations from John viii. 39, and Gal. iii. 29; and also a Latin one from Calvin.] Boston. Printed by Bartholomew Green ; sold by Benjamin Eliot, at his shop under the west end of the Town House, 1705." pp. 24. quarto. Text, Gen. xii. 2.
3 Thomas Estabrook, a brother of the Rev. Joseph, married Sarah Tem- ple, May 3, 1683, and had a son Thomas, born 1685, who had sons, - Samuel, Thomas, and Abraham, born 1710, '13, and '17 ; and from whom most of the name in Concord were descended.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
[1711- 36.
six Sabbaths. A liberal settlement was offered the town by Mr. Prescott's father, should he be chosen, but the proposition was not accepted. The church gave Mr. Whiting a call, in which the town concurred by 110 votes in his favor, November 19, 1711. December 7th following, it was agreed by 84 to 37 " paper votes," to give him £100 as a settlement, and £100 as an annual salary, and pay the expenses of his ordination, which took place May 14, 1712.
Judge Sewall, one of the delegates, makes the following entry in his journal on that day. " I go to Concord in Austin's calash ; set out from home at 5 a. m., got to Mr. Whiting's at 10. Exer- cises began about half an hour past eleven, ended about a quarter past one. Great assembly. Mr. Whiting prayed, and preached from 1 Tim. iii. 1. Mr. Nehemiah Hobart asked if any had to object, 1. Of the church ; 2. Of the congregation ; 3. Of all the present assembly. Declared that the elders and messengers of churches had appointed him to give the charge ; Mr. Angier, Brattle, and Hancock, to join in laying on hands. Mr. Hobart prayed excellently, and so gave the charge. One word in it was diligence or labour, or to that purpose ; prayed again. Declared that Mr. Angier was to give the right hand of fellowship, which he did. Sung the 47th psalm. Mr. Whiting blessed the people. Went and dined at young Mr. Prescott's. Set out to come down about half an hour after three."
Fifteen pounds were subsequently granted to provide Mr. Whit- ing with fire-wood ; and, in addition to his stated salary, special contributions and grants were frequently made. From 1728, he received £150; in 1734, £180; and in 1735, £190. These grants were probably owing to the depreciation in value of the pub- lic currency. During this period Mr. Timothy Minott occasionally assisted Mr. Whiting, and was compensated by contributions or town assessments. In 1732 the town raised £20 for this pur- pose.1
Some objections were brought against Mr. Whiting in the lat- ter part of his ministry ; and several councils were called to inves-
1 I have in my possession " A Sermon, preached at Concord, Dec. 29, 1737 [by the Rev. Israel Loring of Sudbury], at the request of two religious societies of young men there," who used to "meet for the exercises of religion on the evenings of the Lord's day and at other times."
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1736.]
tigate them. In March, 1737, the deacons were chosen a com- mittee " to treat with the Rev. Mr. Whiting, to see whether he would join with the town in calling another minister." He ap- proved of this proposition. On presenting their report, on the 16th of May following, the town voted, 41 to 33, " to call and settle another minister with Mr. Whiting." On the 18th of Oc- tober, an ecclesiastical council was convened here, of which the Rev. John Hancock, of Lexington, was moderator, which, after a public examination of the charges, advised the church to dismiss Mr. Whiting.1 The result was read on the 21st, and the church accepted it, 83 yeas, and 11 nays ; and voted, that the pastoral relation it held to Mr. Whiting, should be dissolved. The town concurred on the 6th of March following, "nemine contradicente."
The Rev. JOHN WHITING died May 4, 1752, aged 71. He was the son of the Rev. Joseph Whiting, who was graduated at Har- vard College in 1661, and was afterwards minister of Southamp- ton, Long Island. His mother, I suppose, was daughter of the Hon. Thomas Danforth of Cambridge, deputy governor of Massa- chusetts colony ; and as he died without issue, perhaps a good portion of his estate descended to Mr. Whiting. His grandfather was the Rev. Samuel Whiting of Lynn, whose last wife was Elizabeth St. John, daughter of the Right Honorable Oliver St. John, nephew to the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and mentioned in the history of England. The father of the Rev, Samuel was John Whiting, mayor of the city of Boston, Lincolnshire. The Rev. John, of Concord, was the sixth son of the Rev. Joseph Whiting, the five preceding him having died in infancy. He was born at Lynn, June 20, 1681.2 He was graduated at Harvard College in 1700, and was subsequently chosen a tutor and fellow of that in- stitution. He was pastor of the church in Concord about twenty- six years. After his dismission he resided in this town principally as a private citizen. He was a man of wealth, learning, influence, and talents ; and, as his modest epitaph informs us, " a gentleman of singular hospitality and generosity, who never detracted from the character of any man, and was a universal lover of mankind."
He married Mary, daughter of the Rev. John Cotton, of Hamp- ton, N. H., granddaughter of the Rev. Seaborn Cotton, great
. 1 The Rev. Joseph Sewall's MS. Journal. He was one of the delegates.
2 MS. Biographical and Genealogical Dictionary, by John Farmer, Esq.
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HISTORY OF CONCORD.
[1738.
granddaughter of the Rev. John Cotton, of Boston, and Gover- nor Simon Bradstreet, and great great granddaughter of Governor Thomas Dudley ; and had four sons and four daughters ; - Mary, who married the Rev. Daniel Rogers, of Littleton ; John, of Royalston ; Thomas, Esq., of Concord ; Stephen, of Boston ; Elizabeth, who married the Rev. Samuel Webster, of Salisbury ; and three others, who died in infancy or unmarried. She died May 29, 1731. He married for a second wife the widow of Dr. Jonathan Prescott.
CHAPTER XI.
Ordination of Mr. Bliss. - State of the Church- - Revivals. - Proceedings of different Ecclesiastical Councils and of the Church. - Divisions in the Parish and Church. - Death of Mr. Bliss. - Ordination of Mr. Emerson. - Proceed- ings of the Church. - Notice of the Rev. Mr. Emerson, - Ordination of Mr. Ripley. - Proceedings of the Church. - Covenants. - Funds. - Ordination of Mr. Goodwin. - Succession of Deacons. - Trinitarian Church.
THE dismission of Mr. Whiting left the church again destitute of a minister. It did not, however, long remain so. The Rev. Daniel Bliss was chosen by the church, August 22, 1738, in which act the town concurred, 14th September, 70 to 32. October 19, it was voted, 63 to 12, to give him £500 as a settlement, and £200 as a salary, in the old-tenor province bills of credit. The settlement was subsequently paid by the sale of town lands. February 14, 1739, was appointed for his ordination, when a council of seven churches, of which the Rev. John Hancock was moderator, convened for the purpose ; but some difficulties having arisen, it adjourned, and met again on the 6th of March, with two additional churches, called by the church, and three by the dis- satisfied members. By the decision of this council it was agreed to abide. The charges brought against Mr. Bliss were principally personal. But the council, after a full examination, came to a result in his favor on the 7th of March, when his ordination took place.
On this occasion, the Rev. John Barnard, of Marblehead, made the introductory prayer ; the Rev. William Williams, of Weston,
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1740.]
preached from Acts xxvi. 17, 18 ; the Rev. Ebenezer Hancock, Sen., of Lexington, gave the charge ; and the Rev. John Gardner, of Stow, the right hand of fellowship. The church, at this time, consisted of 85 members, 35 males and 50 females.
This was an important era in the ecclesiastical history of New England. Much of the zeal which had characterized the churches at an early period had subsided ; the sermons from the desk had become cold and formal ; and spiritual lethargy and indifference ensued. About this time a powerful revival of religion com- menced in many churches in the colony. These remarks will be true, whether applied to the general history of the country, or tlie particular history of Concord.
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