USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > History of the town of Essex : from 1634 to 1868 > Part 22
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242
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 4.
let, and escort him to the body of the town. We see in that numerous body of horse, our minister, Mr. Cleaveland, now approaching three-score years and ten, yet with his large and muscular frame, sitting as erect upon the saddle as any young man. We wait patiently for their return. But we have not to wait long; for the General is always up to the mark. The whole cavalcade is in sight, and, as they near us, every eye is fixed to discern the father of his country. An address is made to him expressive of grati- tude for his services, and bidding welcome to the hospitali- ties of the town ; to which he respectfully and briefly re- plies. A regiment is on the ground to do him honor, which, after dining at the inn, he reviews in military style. Having received many visits, and spent three hours in town, he takes his departure for Newbury. The vast mul- titude assembled cannot let him go without a special token of regard. They form a line on each side of the way, comprising men, women and children, and reaching through the village ; through the midst of these long lines of ani- mated countenances and grateful hearts, the General slowly rides, ever and anon making his grateful respects.
1790. May 28th, Eleazer Craft, died, aged 78. He was the last of the ruling elders in Mr. Cleaveland's church ; and lived near the site of the late Richard Burnham's house, not far from the corner of the old and new road to Manchester. He was highly esteemed for his ardent piety and uniform Christian deportment.
1791. July 7th, John Choate Esq., died of consump- tion, aged 54. He was born on Hog Island, 1737, a son of elder Francis Choate. His residence was at the North End, in the same house where his father died, now owned. and occupied by John Burnham. He was much in public life, for five years a representative to the General Court, feoffee of the Grammar school, and Justice of the Sessions Court. " A man highly respected in public and private life, for his abilities and integrity."
·
243
·
FOURTH MEETING-HOUSE.
I774-1800.]
THE FOURTH MEETING-HOUSE.
1792-3. In July of 1790 the parish had voted to erect a new meeting-house, and at their meetings on the 2d, 6th, 9th and 12th days of that month, they matured the whole measure and sold every pew. There was consider- able difference of opinion, however, as to the proper loca- tion for it, some of the parish thinking that it ought to be placed on the corner near the gravel-pit. After many long and protracted discussions, it was finally agreed to build it on " meeting-house hill," where the South meeting- house stood. That building was accordingly taken down ; and the new house was raised on the 3d and 4th of July, 1792. According to the testimony of the late Mr. John Choate, who remembered to have seen the house raised, although then only three years old, Capt. Jonathan Story was the master-builder of the frame and the outside, and gave orders at the raising. The tower up to the bell-deck was framed together on the common, and was raised to its place by ropes. The dimensions of the building were forty-four feet by sixty-two, and twenty-six feet post; height of bell-deck, sixty feet ; height of "ball," ninety feet ; tower, twelve feet square. A new bell was purchased, in part by subscription and in part by the sale of the old one. At the west end there was also a porch, admitting both to the floor of the house and to the galleries. On the floor of the house were fifty-three pews, and in the galleries twenty pews and a number of free seats. The pulpit was on the side opposite the street or main en- trance, and was reached by a flight of stairs. Behind it was a large, curtained window. Over it was a bell-shaped sounding-board, suspended by an iron rod from the ceil- ing. In front of the pulpit was the " elders' seat," reached from a landing on the stairs, and directly before that, but lower down, an enclosure containing the communion-table. There were no stoves in the building until the year 1819. The meeting-house was not completed until the Autumn of
244
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 4.
1793 ; and on the 8th of October, was dedicated to the ser- vice of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The pastor preached on the occasion from, Acts x. 33: "Now there- fore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." The house was full of people. The sermon was appropriate and impressive ; the singing was conducted with great animation and power, the choir being led by Isaac Long of Hopkinton, N. H., one of the builders of the house. The text was inscribed on a tab- let and placed over the canopy of the pulpit. This tablet is now to be seen in the basement-room of the church. Forty- seven pews on the floor of the house and twenty in the gal- lery were sold for the sum total of £667.15 ($2,225.83). A list of the purchasers is before us, fifty-three in all, not one of whom is now among the living.
The old North meeting-house, which had been built in 1718, was standing as late as the 7th of November 1791, as is proved by an allusion to it in the " Chebacco School Records" of that date, yet, according to the testimony of several aged people, the Sabbath service, while the new house was building, was held in the barn of Dea. Jona- than Cogswell (the grandfather of Albert and Jonathan Cogswell). The pulpit was taken from the meeting-house and placed in the middle of the "bay " between the two " floors," on the back side of the barn, and the scaffold opposite to it on the front side, between the two barn- doors, was occupied by the choir of singers.
1797. " April 30th. A letter-missive from the Second Church of Row- ley to this church, requesting the assistance of this church with such a nun- ber of delegates as we shall choose, to join with a large number of churches in the ordination of Mr. Isaac Braman over them as pastor, being communi- cated, voted to comply with the request, but postponed the choosing a dele- gate till they should hear Mr. Braman preach a sermon or two.
" May 28th, the church being stayed after divine service, P. M., having heard Mr. Braman preach to good acceptance three sermons, proceeded to choose our brother Thomas Choate as our delegate to go with our pastor to New Rowley to sit in Council the 7th of June next, to assist in the ordination of said Mr. Braman."
245
DEATH OF MR. CLEAVELAND.
1774-1800.]
At the ordination of Rev. Mr. Braman, Mr. Cleaveland made the consecrating prayer.
1798. " November 18th. A letter-missive from the Third Church in Newbury to the Second Church in Ipswich, requesting the assistance of our pastor with delegates, in the ordination of Mr. Leonard Woods to the pas- toral office in that church, being communicated to the church by the pastor this day, the church voted to comply with the request, provided the weather at this late season of the year and our aged pastor's health will admit of at- tending the council. And our brother Abraham Perkins, being nominated as delegate of this church to go with our pastor, was chosen."
This is the last record in Mr. Cleaveland's handwriting. 1799. April 22d, the Rev. John Cleaveland departs this life, after a long, faithful and successful ministry. He was 77 years old, the day on which he died. He was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, April 22, 1722. In early life, he exhibited a taste for books, and a contemplative mind. Having passed through the preparatory course of study, he entered Yale College at the age of 19. While a meni- ber .of this Institution, he exhibited on a trying occasion, that independence and moral courage for which he was distinguished in after life. Although the cause of Mr. Whitefield, doctrinally considered, was only Puritanism revived, it was conducted by measures deemed subversive of the established order of the churches, and was on this account obnoxious to the government of Yale. Ignorant, however, that he was violating any rule of the College in so doing, young Cleaveland, when at home in vacation in company with his parents and friends and a majority of the members of the church to which he belonged, attended a meeting of Separatists and listened to the preaching of a lay-exhorter or " new-light preacher " as the followers of Whitefield were called. On his return to college at the beginning of his Senior year, he was arraigned for this offence, and required to confess that he had done wrong. On refusing he was expelled from College. As some atonement for the injury thus inflicted, the government of the college unsolicited conferred on him his degree in
246
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 4.
1764, and recorded his name among the graduates of his class-the class of 1745. Soon after his dismission from college, he was licensed to preach ; and it was in conse- quence of that zeal for the old doctrines and the new measures, which the treatment he had received had awakened in him, that he was invited to preach to the Separatist Society in Boston, meeting in the Huguenot Church in School street " where the expatriated Bowdoin's and Amory's had before worshiped." The call however, which that Society gave him, after he had been their acting pastor for two years, he declined. But very soon after he accepted the invitation of the "Newly-gathered Congregational Church " in Chebacco, and was ordained their pastor when at the age of twenty-five. About the same time he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College. In this parish he con- tinued in the faithful discharge of the duties of the min- istry for more than fifty-two years. His last sickness, as we were informed by a member of the family, was vehe- ment and of short duration. He was aware that the time of his departure was at hand ; spake of it with calm- ness and Christian resignation : yea, more, he desired to depart and be with Christ. His conversation with those who visited him at this time, and with his family, was in- structive and impressive. He often joined with them in social prayer, and expressed his full confidence in the God of his salvation. With this lively confidence and peace- ful serenity, he descended into the vale of death, and, as we doubt not, was received up into glory. His funeral was attended by a large collection of people. The Rev. Dr. Dana of the South Parish, preached on the occasion from II. Kings ii. 12. The parish voted eighty dollars for the expenses of his burial.
Mr. Cleaveland's first wife and the mother of his chil- dren, was Mary, the only daughter of Parker Dodge, of the Hamlet. Her mother was Mary Choate, born on Hog Island. Of her grandchildren, one was a minister of the
247
MR. CLEAVELAND'S APPEARANCE.
1774-1800.]
Gospel, and two were physicians. Of her great grand- children, one was a professor in Bowdoin College, two are ministers, one a pastor's widow, and one a lawyer at New York. We mention these among the products of the Island. Mrs. Cleaveland died of a cancer, April 11, 1768, in her forty-sixth year. Mr. Cleaveland married for his second wife, Mary, widow of Capt. John Foster of Man- chester. She died at Topsfield, April 19, 1810. An ad- dress was delivered at her funeral, in our parish church, by Rev. Asahel Huntington of Topsfield. The names of Mr. Cleaveland's children were Mary, John, Parker, Ebe- nezer, Elizabeth, Nehemiah, and Abigail.
Mr. Cleaveland resided from the year 1749 to the close of his life on what is now called Spring Street, in an an- cient mansion, which stood on the spot now occupied by the house of Hon. David Choate. His farm included all the land now belonging to this homestead. It was bought for his use and benefit, by a number of his parishioners, and became his, as from time to time he paid the original value, without rent or interest.
In his personal appearance, Mr. Cleaveland was tall, yet of fine proportions and very erect, of a florid countenance, blue eyes, firm in his gait even to old age, moderate in his motions, but of great muscular strength and activity. He had a most amiable and benevolent eye, and was a man into whose face everybody loved to look. He usually con- versed in a low tone of voice, was social and pleasant, abounding in facts which he related at times with great animation, was grave, instructive and impressive, when occasion so required. He could sometimes, however, forego the dignity of the ministerial character and amuse himself and others. He had a lady in his church who was strongly suspected of neglecting to read her Bible. In order to satisfy himself of the fact, when one day on a visit at her house, he watched his opportunity, while she was out of the room, and put her spectacles, (not having bows upon them,) into her Bible, and closed the book. The very
248
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 4.
great length of time that elapsed before the finding of the spectacles, but too plainly proved the suspicion well founded.
In his public performances, Mr. Cleaveland usually be- gan in a low tone, but would soon raise his voice, to a sten- torian pitch. So powerful and distinct was his utterance that persons sitting at an open window on the opposite side of the street, when the windows and doors of the church were open, have distinctly heard the greater part of his sermon. Before the close of his sermon, which commonly occupied an hour or more in the delivery, most of the men in the Winter season, impelled by the cold, would be upon their feet, still listening however, with close attention to the end. His discourses were chiefly extem- pore, from brief notes containing the heads and some of the leading thoughts. We have in our hands some of these briefs, written almost one hundred years ago, con- sisting of four pages : each four inches long, three wide, and containing the date when the sermon was preached, the text, some ten or twelve heads and many leading thoughts, in a hand so small as scarcely to be legible. His delivery was accompanied with appropriate gestures, fre- quent and energetic, his hand descending upon the cush- ions, with such power as to drive sleep from the most drowsy hearer. We have been told by clergymen, his contemporaries, that he was esteemed one of the most popular and instructive preachers of the day. He was a diligent student and an able writer, as his published pam- phlets fully testify. The light in his study was usually burning at a late hour. The subjects on which he was to preach, were carefully and thoroughly digested. He never offered that, for a sacrifice to the Lord, which had cost him nothing. As his memory was not so prompt in his last years, he began then to write out his sermons in full, instead of trusting to brief notes, yet his manner in the pulpit, was still lively and vigorous. On the last Sab- bath but one before his death, he preached with his usual
249
MR. CLEAVELAND'S CHARACTER.
1774-1800.]
animation and energy. His familiarity with the Scriptures was proverbial.
" His prayers were congenial with his sermons. Without a careful and orderly arrangement of topics, they were the effusions of a heart in close com- munion with God, and carried with them the affections of his hearers. Mr. Cleaveland's character was uniformity. While he constantly held intercourse with heaven, he consecrated particular days to private fasting and prayer. With him, love to the Savior and to the souls for which he died, was the ab- sorbing sentiment. This was habitually manifest in methods altogether unos- tentatious yet impossible to be misunderstood. He thus secured the consci- entious approbation of the community generally and the warm love of the pious. Though his life was spent for the most part in comparative seclusion, his good influence was felt much beyond the immediate sphere of his labors."*
Through life he tenaciously maintained that freer sys- tem of ecclesiastical order, and that stricter system of evan» gelical doctrine, which characterized the advocates of Mr. Whitefield in New England. From convictions of duty he contended zealousły for what he believed to be the truth and right, whenever occasion required. During no small part of his ministry, therefore, he was obliged to maintain somewhat of a controversial attitude. Besides his printed pamphlets in his controversy with Mr. Pickering, he after- wards published :
" An Essay on important Principles of Christianity, with Animadversions on Dr. Jonathan Mayhew's Thanksgiving Sermon ;" A Rejoinder to Dr. Mayhew's Reply ; " A Justification of the Fourth Church in Ipswich, from the Strictures of the Rev. S. Wigglesworth of the Hamlet, and the Rev. Richard Jaques of Gloucester ;" " An attempt to nip in the bud the un- scriptural Doctrine of Universal Salvation ;" " A Dissertation in support of Infant Baptism ;" and "Defence of the result of a late Council at Salem against Dr. Whittaker's Remarks."
Yet all his intercourse with his fellow-men was marked by affability, candor and kindness. Such was the benevo- lence of his heart, the mildness of his manners, the con- sistency of his deportment, that under his ministry, two churches which had been long at variance were brought to a permanent union. No higher encomium could be
*Rev. Dr. Dana in Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit. 32
250
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 4.
passed upon his conciliatory manners and uniform pro- priety of conduct.
Mr. Cleaveland's authorship was not confined to his controversial tracts. Among his other published produe- tions were "A Narrative of a Revival of Religion in the Fourth Church, Ipswich," and "A Sermon at the Ordination of Rev. John Cleaveland, Jr., at Stoneham." In 1774 he wrote several political articles for the. Salem Gazette. Others upon the state of the country and its interests ap- peared in the same paper from time to time down to 1798 from his pen, over the signature of "Johannes in Eremo."
On the 2d of June following, Rev. Dr. Parish of By- field, by request, preached a sermon to the bereaved church and congregation, on the occasion of his death. The text was Psalms exvi. 15. The concluding portion of the discourse was as follows :
" The confines of time do not bound the hopes or joys of man. Beyond the veil of death the regions of immortality invite his attention. From the deserts of life, the City of God presents Edens of delight, palaces of glory, thrones of honor. To the piercing eye of faith, the prospect is real, the objects are distinguishable, the view is ravishing. As from Pisgah's summit the Hebrew Lawgiver beheld the promised land, Gilead, and the snowy tops of Lebanon, the vale of Jericho and the city of Zoar .; so the Christian surveys the New Jerusalem, her walls of jasper, and her gates of pearl. He no longer trembles at the approach of the king of terrors. Often he de- sires to depart. Serene and pleasant are his last hours. The choirs of heaven participate in the blissful scene. Cheerfully they leave their thrones to hover round the dying saint, to soothe his last moment, to convoy his holy spirit to his final home, to the bosom of his God. God himself delights in the departure of his people from the dreary wilderness of mortality. Is not this subject calculated to afford comfort to mourners contemplating the departure of a Christian friend ? And does not the subject address itself with particular emphasis to this assembly. The faithful husband, the tender parent, the kind neighbor, the laborious minister, the man of universal be- nevolence, is no more. But is it not great consolation that he believed and obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ ? May not a transient recollection of his character revive in your minds the delightful impression, that his death was precious in the sight of God ?
" In that period which is apt to be dazzled with the charms of popular ap- plause, he voluntarily bore the cross, and suffered reproach for what he con- ceived the cause of truth and vital religion. Scrupulous in his ideas of right
251
FUNERAL SERMON.
1774-1800.]
and wrong; ardent in his feelings ; daring in his temper ; he followed the convictions of his own mind, little regarding what might be the impression upon others. Though of a mild spirit, he was decided in his opinions ; though gentle in his manner he was independent in his conduct, never was he snared by the fear of man.
" That he was a person of consummate prudence, of irreproachable con- duct, we have ample evidence in the union which has taken place under his ministry, between the two churches and congregations, which now compose this Society. At first he was minister of only one of those, when very prob- ably both possessing the spirit of the times might not unjustly be compared to two clouds, which at every moment disgorge the thunder, and dart terrific flames ; but by the attractive influence of him whose death we all deplore, the clouds, dissolving lost their awful form, the storm was hushed, the dark- ness fled. The gentle shower, the peaceful bow succeeds. This union under him seems not unnatural, when we recollect his pleasing address, his meek- ness of temper, the suavity of his manners, and the uniform propriety of his deportment. His life was such as carried conviction to every acquaintance that he was a man of unaffected goodness.
" He was a careful observer of Providence, being in the habit of seeing God in every event. Every circumstance he viewed as a providence of God, constituting a necessary part of a great, a glorious whole. This belief soothed his mind in the darkest hour. The Bible was his constant com- panion. He was a scribe well instructed in the sacred oracles. . They seemed to be treasured in his memory, and with great pertinency he applied texts to different characters and tastes. His industry was uniform. His knowledge of men and things general and extensive. A particular and tender affection he had for his brethren in the ministry. With the most cor- dial hospitality he welcomed them to his dwelling. Most punctual in all his engagements, nothing but necessity could prevent his being with them at their stated meetings. And rarely did he retire from their society without giving a word of timely instruction, of pious advice, of paternal admonition. Active and enterprising, he repeatedly, left the silence of his study for the din of war; the joys of domestic peace, for the dangers of the bloody field. Four years of his life as chaplain of her forces were devoted to his country. The waters of Champlain, the rocks of Cape Breton, the fields of Cambridge, and the banks of the Hudson, listened to the fervor of his addresses. Though he rigidly reproved profanity and vice of every kind, such was the mildness of his manner, that he seldom or never gave offence. To him another species of warfare was still more familiar. For a great part of his life, he was frequently engaged in polemie disputes. He was wont to contend for what he believed ' the faith once delivered to the saints.' But this did not in the least sour his temper, ruffle his spirit, or excite that asperity which is too frequently the effect of religious controversy. Charity and good nature were prominent features of his character. As a minister, he was laborious and successful, never sparing himself when duty called to action. Zealous
252
HISTORY OF ESSEX.
[CHAP. 4.
in his religious performances, he was apparently the means of awakening and comforting many. A son of thunder to the wicked, an angel of consola- tion to the pious, he saw much fruit of his instruction. One period of so- lemnity was remarkable. The word of the Lord was powerful. In a short time a goodly number, a cloud of witnesses, was added to the church, who were their pastor's comfort while living, and we trust will be his crown of rejoicing at the great day. An impassioned lover of his country, he viewed with horror the disorganizers of the world, with sacred indignation he con- templated those who defend, or apologize for their conduct. In his opinion to make an excuse for a nation of atheists was irreligious and anti-Christian.
" As a father, tender and indulgent, he carefully instructed his offspring in the great doctrines and duties of Christianity. By his example and precept he taught them to be useful, to be happy and respectable here, and blessed hereafter. He commanded their affection and perfect esteem. He reigned in their hearts.
" With the companion of his youth, and the worthy consort who closed his eyes, he lived in the most endearing harmony. To lose such a friend, husband and minister is distressing. It would be more than insensibility not to mourn. For a friend like him Jesus wept. But is it no cause of thank- fulness that such a blessing has been enjoyed so long ? Has not such a per- son been highly favored of the Lord ? The tears of grief are wiped away by the spirit of gratitude. Those circumstances which enhance the loss, heal or soothe the bleeding heart."
On Mr. Cleaveland's tombstone, in the old graveyard, is the following inscription :
THIS MONUMENT PERPETUATES THE MEMORY AND SINGULAR VIRTUES OF THE REV. JOHN CLEAVELAND, A. M., Who died April 22d, 1799, which day completed HIS 77TH YEAR.
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