USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Manchester > History of the town of Manchester, Essex County, Massachusetts, 1645-1895 > Part 16
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Without the reading of Scripture - something which, strangely enough, was supposed to squint at least towards Rome - the parson turns the hour-glass, names his text from the Book of Judges, and proceeds with his discourse. With formal divisions and scholastic phraseology, for Parson Tappan was one of the " pain- ful " preachers of the time, aud adjusting Hebrew his- tory to the exigencies of New England life, the sermon comes at last, with another turn of the glass, to " nine- teenthly " and the close. Good, solid, Puritan theology, with no suspicion of clap-trap or sensationalism from beginning to end. The pulpit had not found the need of resorting to such " popular " subjects as the latest ar- rival of the Speedwell or the Hind and Panther, with news of the battle of the Boyne, or "the recent ship- wreck at Sandy Bay," or "the truth concerning Captain Underhill and the Cocheco scandal."
In the course of the sermon a disturbance is caused by some "pestigeous" boys, and especially by one
1 Watts' Hymns were published in England in 1707, and his Songs of Darid in 1719. They were introduced into the church in Manchester in 1753. (Palfrey says that they began to be generally adopted in the Revolu- tionary period. Vol. V, 221 n.) They were a great advance upon the often uncouth rhymes of Tute and Brady, and gradually supplanted that collec- tion in the psalmody of the New England churches, and for wellnigh a century held an almost undisputed place.
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Pomp, a negro,1 making strange contortions of counte- nance, whereupon he is called forth and reproved with great awfulness and solemnity ; some children, and also a mulatto woman, are reprimanded for laughing at Pomp's scandalous demeanor.2
The service was simple and bare of anything that might appeal to the senses or an æsthetic taste. Our fathers had suffered too much and too recently, to be very tolerant of anything that savored of a liturgy or reminded them of the church of Land and Cranmer. They had as scant respect for processions, genuflections, antiphons, and such like performances, as had the Dev- onshire clerk for the proceedings of his ritualistic rector : " First he went up the church, and then he went down the church, side-a-ways, here-a-ways, and theer-a-ways, a scrattlin' like a crab."" Puritanism was an extreme re- action from ritualism.
The noon intermission is welcomed, and parties gather here and there, some to listen to Lient. May's story of the siege of Louisburg, others to discuss the sermon and the tides, Solomon Driver's black steers, the sailing of Skipper Bear's "Chebacco boat," the meeting of the Great and General Court, the ghost lately seen on the Gloucester road, the "greate black oke" struck by lightning in the swamp near Wolf Trap brook, and the mysterious disappearance of Goodwife Parsons' mo- lasses, which all agreed was "bewitched."+ Luncheon is
1 According to a census of the town taken in 1761, there were then twenty-three negroes and mulattoes in Manchester, seven Acadians, one Indian.
2 Such scenes, and others even more mirth-provoking, were not of in frequent occurrence, as the old records testify. We read in an old auto- biography, " diversions was frequent in meeting, and the more duller the sermon, the more likely it was that some accident or mischief would be done to help pass the time."
3 Charles Kingsley, Ilis Letters, etc., 125.
4 A common explanation of anything mysterious and annoying, even long after the terrible Witchcraft delusion had disappeared from these shores, like the sea-wrack before the besom of a Nor'wester.
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eaten, the horizon is scanned, prognostications are sagely made on the weather, with glances at the weather-cock, bravely looking eastward, the whipping-post and stocks just made by Thomas Lee are examined and criticised, notes are compared on planting and on building a weir at Kettle Cove, the young men and maidens return from the short and discreet Sunday ramble to the brook, in which they have talked, perchance, of other things be- sides the morning sermon, such as the wondrous cures wrought by Molly Morgan, a " charmer of warts," who having climbed to the top of Moses Hill " was aston- ished to find the world so large," and some other things not strictly in the " odor of sanctity," and all gather quietly and devoutly for the afternoon service. This is similar to that of the forenoon, except that the preacher seems to aim to come a little nearer, to use Lord Bacon's phrase, to his hearers' " business and bosoms."
Ilis text is from the words of Paul, respecting those who " having itching ears, heap to themselves teachers." He takes occasion gravely to warn his flock against certain irregularities of which he is pained to hear in the parish of Chebacco, where Rev. John Cleaveland, one of the "New Lights," is stirring up the people, and where a good deal is heard of " new measures," " exper- imental religion," and the like.1
The plain words of the parson produce a decided effect upon the congregation, and make many an ear to tingle ; for is it not known in all the parish that Edward Lee and some others have been going over to Chebacco of late to meeting, declaring that their souls are not fed by Parson Tappan? There has been talk, too, of a Council; it is even whispered that letters have passed between Parson Cleaveland and Parson Tappan, and
1 Tide " A Patriotic Parson," by D. F. Lamson, Magazine of American History, vol. XVIII, 237.
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many wise ones are of the opinion that something must be done to put a stop to the erratic goings-on of breachy parishioners, and to preserve the order and peace of the churches.
Such monitory discourses have multiplied of late. The shepherd has seen the wolf coming. The times are full of excitement and peril. The French war has left the country demoralized. Ominous signs have appeared of late over seas. Faint mutterings of the gathering storm of the Revolution have been borne fitfully on the breeze even to this out-of-the-way hamlet. But, worse than all, rumors were abroad the previous winter, that certain persons called "Dippers," or " Anabaptists " had come secretly into town, and had even held some meetings in a small house in the outskirts. It is true, these rogues had been closely watched, and on one oc- casion, it was reported, were so hotly pursued by the constables that they were glad to get out of the pre- cinct without being set in the pillory and having their ears cropped; 1 whereat sundry " antient, grave and sober" persons were greatly aggrieved. All these things had of late kept the usually sedate community in an uncommon state of perturbation.
But at last the service ends, as services do, and the congregation take their homeward way, circumspect and serious, with matter enough to think about and talk about till the next Sabbath. The supper of baked beans, brown bread and Indian pudding, drawn from the brick oven, with the unusual luxury of a cup
1 As late as 1752, the mother of Dr. Isaac Backus, the historian of New England Baptists, was thrown into jail, when sick of a fever, because for conscience' sake she refused to pay the State-Church tax.
"It is a sad story. Most pure and excellent and otherwise inoffensive persons were the sufferers, and generally patient ones. But the struggle was a brief one. The Baptists conquered in it, and came to equal esteem and love with their brethren." (Winsor, Memorial History of Boston, vol. 1, 179.)
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of tea, is eaten with honest appetites and thankful hearts. The catechism is recited by the younger men- bers of the family, the " heads " of the sermons are given, the cows are brought to the barnyard, the milk- ing is done, and sunset melting down the amber sky ends the sweet, peaceful, healthful, uplifting Puritan Sabbath.
No song of the drunkard has polluted the sweet air, no " meets " have flaunted along the highways, no rail- way trains have disturbed the quiet, no Sunday papers have flapped their huge wings like birds of evil omen athwart the sky. All day long the earth has been at peace, and has reflected back the smile of heaven.
As the stars begin to come out in the pure skies, the young people join in the free-masonry of hearts as old as the race, tales are told, songs are sung, or thoughts are breathed too deep for words, until nine o'clock finds the last suitor departed, the last " good-nights " said, the doors closed, but not barred,1 and the full moon, which had risen high in the eastern heavens, looking down on the sleeping town.
1 With the disturbed state of the country, incident to the Revolution, and especially the fear of a landing from the enemy's ships upon the coast, more precautions began to be taken. A stout, wooden bar, bearing evi- dence of long service, belonging to this period, is still in use in the Kit- field house at the " Cove," to fasten the door o' nights; another may be seen in Mrs. Abby Baker's house.
APPENDIX B.
A TYPICAL OLDTIME MINISTER - REV. BENJAMIN TAPPAN, 1720-1790.
As more is known of Rev. Benjamin Tappan than of any other of the earlier ministers of Manchester, and as he served the church and town for so long a time and during so momentous a period - that of the Revolution- ary epoch - and has left so many descendants; he was, in short, so repre- sentative a man and minister, that this biographical sketch is appended, it being too long and of too personal a character for a place in the body of the work. The paper was originally written by the author for the Maga- zine of American History, December, 1890.
Mr. Tappan, whose ministry of forty-five years was closed only by his death, was a good representative of the Puritan clergy. He was the son of Samuel Toppan, of Newbury, Mass., and was born in 1720. He was graduated from Harvard College in 1742, settled at Manchester, as successor to Rev. Ames Cheever, Dec. 11, 1745, and died May 6, 1790. As in all similar in- stances, at that time, and for many years afterwards, Mr. Tappan was called and settled by vote of the town. The time of the separation of church and state in Mass- achusetts was yet far in the future. The town called the minister, voted his salary, built the meeting-house, set apart ministerial lands, made arrangements for ordi- nations, even to the supply of rum deemed necessary on such occasions - in short, transacted all the business involved in ecclesiastical relations that was afterwards transferred to the parish. The town was the parish. The ministerial tax was levied on the taxable property, irrespective of creed or religious preference.
Mr. Tappan's relations to the church and town appear to have been cordial throughout his ministry. As a mark of confidence and esteem he was voted for three successive years a gift, in addition to his salary,
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amounting, in 1769, to £46. The records show a mingled dignity and consideration on the part of both pastor and people.
As Mr. Tappan's ministry covered the troublous period of the Revolution, with many years before and after, when the country was in an extremely depressed financial condition, it is not surprising to learn that at one time the impoverished people were unable to pay the stipulated salary. To the credit of the minister, we are told that he " maintained uninterruptedly and with faithfulness the ministrations of his pastoral duties." Such a course must have strengthened the ties that united pastor and people in those "times that tried men's souls." 1
Mr. Tappan's theology was of the type generally prevalent in the " standing order " in New England, in the latter half of the eighteenth century. He appears to have belonged to the more conservative school. As none of his sermons are extant, all that is known must be matter of inference. About 1760, a controversy arose between Mr. Tappan and Rev. John Cleaveland of Chebacco, which has left its record in some corres- pondence, preserved in a rare tract written by Mr. Cleaveland, and entitled after the manner of the time, " A Plain Narrative," etc., Boston, 1767. The case in brief was this: Some persons in Manchester, among them the celebrated Edward Lee, " The Apostolic Fish- erman," had for come time been attending Mr. Cleave- land's ministry, alleging that Mr. Tappan's preaching was Arminian. Some had even gone so far as to join
1 To show the difficulties to which ministers were often subjected, one of them writes, " In 1777 your Pastor gave the whole of his year's Salary for one sucking Calf, the next year he gave the whole for a small store pig." The spirit of this poor parson is seen in what follows; " your pastor has not asked any consideration being willing to Scrabble along with the people while they are in low circumstances." One minister in Maine was paid £5,400 in paper money to make good his salary of £60 in gold.
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APPENDIX B.
the church in Chebacco, a grave offence in the eyes of our fathers, who considered the parish a kind of eccle- siastical preserve to be jealously guarded against minis- terial and other poachers. It does not appear that Mr. Cleaveland was guilty of any breach of ministerial courtesy in the matter ; but Mr. Tappan was one of the New England ministers who were not in sympathy with Whitefield and what were known as the " new measures," while Mr. Cleaveland was an ardent supporter of the revival movement. Mr. Tappan complained of the in- terference, as he considered it, with his rights as minis- ter of Manchester, and it seemed likely for a time that a serious and lasting strife between the neighboring parishes would be the result. The language of Parson Tappan, in some of his letters, bears a tinge of acerbity, that, considering all the circumstances, is perhaps no occasion for wonder. Mr. Cleaveland was a man who had "the courage of his convictions," was skilled in debate, and a firm and decided but courteous contro- versialist. The case was a typical one. It was a skir- mish of outposts, but the conflict which half a century later convulsed the churches of New England was already impending.
In common with most of the ministers of the period, Mr. Tappan was an ardent patriot. He not only coun- selled resistance to the oppressive measures of the king in council, and gave two of his sons to the Continental Army, but when British cruisers were menacing the shores, he carried his musket with him to meeting, leaving it at the foot of the pulpit stairs, ready for an emergency.
Of Mr. Tappan's manner and style of preaching, not even an anecdote remains. We can imagine him in knee-buckles, small-clothes and broad-brimmed cocked- hat, in bands and wig ; he is said to have been stout and
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
well-built, and fancy pictures him as somewhat grave and sedate. No portrait or even silhouette is known to exist. Nor have we any means of rehabilitating the old parsonage with its active, intelligent, busy life.1
Dr. Leach says of Mr. Tappan, " Ilis character as a scholar was very respectable, as appears from the testi- mony of his professional brethren, among whom, as among the people of his charge, he was highly esteemed, and his death deeply lamented.2 And Dr. Leach, who was born in 1809, must in his youth and early manhood have known many who were the parishioners and ac- quaintances of Mr. Tappan. That he was a man of strong character is shown not only by his hold for so many years upon the town, but by the character of his descendants. Mr. Tappan had eleven children, among whom was Benjamin,3 an eminent citizen of Northamp- ton ; David, who was made Hollis professor of Divinity at Harvard College, 1792, and who died in 1803, of whom Dr. Holmes remarks, " His death threw a gloom over his bereaved family, over the university, the church, the commonwealth, and the country "; Samuel and Amos, who became successful educators, and Ebenezer, who was in the army of 1776.4 The family has always been distinguished for intelligence and public spirit. It is represented in Manchester in the third and fourth generations.
1 Since the first publieation of this article the writer's attention has been directed to the Memoir of Mrs. Sarah Tappun, wife of Benjamin Tappan, of Northampton, by their son, Lewis Tappan (N. Y.). On page 126, referring to Parson Tappan, the author says : " He had young men studying with him from time to time. His eyes were small and deep in his head; he had a dent in his ehin, dimples in his cheeks, and was inclined to corpulency."
2 Rev. Eli Forbes of Gloucester, in his funeral sermon, preached at Manchester, May 10, 1790, says of Mr. Tappan, " He was a man of fixed probity-great candor - very cautions - of a most tender conscience, and extensive benevolence."
3 Father of Arthur and Lewis Tappan of New York.
4 Grandfather of Lewis N. and Wm. HI. Tappan.
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APPENDIX B.
The house in which Mr. Tappan lived, long known as " the old red house," and said by tradition never to have been painted any other color, stood on the east side of School street, opposite Friend court. It has been de- scribed as " a fine old house in early times, the walls being plastered with mortar made of burnt clam-shells and sand." It was of " the long sloping-roof style, probably built about the time of the first parsonage- house," in 1685. It was purchased by the town in 1745, for Mr. Tappan ; connected with it were about five acres of land on the northerly side of Saw Mill brook. The demolition of this house a few years ago was greatly regretted by those who have a regard for " the ancient landmarks which the fathers have set." But much as the removal of such a house is to be deplored on sentimental grounds, it is better that it should not longer have survived, to be occupied by alien and un- sympathetic tenants.
Mr. Tappan was buried in the old burial-ground on Summer street. The slate stone above his grave is in good preservation, and the lettering quite legible. It bears the inscription, supposed to have been written by his son David : -
In Memory of BENJAMIN TAPPAN, A. M., late pastor of the church in Manchester, who expired May 6, 1790, in the 70th year of his age, and 45th of his ministry. He was a sincere and exemplary Christian, a tender Husband & Parent, a judicious & sound Divine, a prudent & faithful Minister. O ever honored, ever dear, adieu; How many tender names are lost in you; Keep safe, O Tomb, thy precious, sacred trust, Till life divine awake his sleeping dust.
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
The generations overlap each other in their influence, as well as in their physical life. Few and fragmentary as are the facts which have been preserved respecting the life of the Minister of Manchester during the last half of the eighteenth century, and shadowy as his fig- ure may be to us, his character is still moulding the life of the community after the lapse of more than a hun- dred years.
APPENDIX C.
CEMETERIES.
ONE of the first cares of the early settlers, after put- ting up some rude shelter for the living, was to provide a resting-place for the dead. Even before the meeting- house rose on the Common, the Silent House was made ready for its tenant.
It is possible that the first graveyard, which tradition locates near the present Library building,1 may have been a private burial-place. Nothing certainly is now known of it. The very names of those who were buried in it have long since been forgotten. The earliest burying- ground of which any trace now remains is that on the road from the "Cove " to the Magnolia R. R. Station. No mention of this is found in the records. Within the memory of persons now living, several stones re- mained, among them one of white marble bearing the name of Abigail Gilbert. But these have been broken down and have disappeared many years ago. There are a few small rough stones, without name or date, rising a few inches above the turf, the only memorials that mark the resting-places of the unknown dead. Nothing could be more simple, rude, primitive. But it is "God's Acre." Within this little plot, far away from the turmoil of life, were laid the mortal remains of some of the founders and first inhabitants of the town. Prob- ably John Kettle was buried here, and the Hoopers,
1 Memorial Library Volume, p. 59.
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
Allens, Kitfields, Stones, and others, whose descendants are now scattered from Maine to Montana. The town has within a few years taken measures to protect the spot from further desecration, but nothing can repair the ravages of the past.
The earliest record that exists of a piece of land being set apart by the town for burial purposes, is in 1668.1
Att a towne meeting the 16th of march 1668 it was confirmed by most of ye inhabitents yt wear their mett yt in considera- tion of sum Ground yt they make use of for a bureall place which was Samuell friend owne land possessed & planted by him in Lien therof he has to have a neck of Land yt Lyes betwen the Saw mill and his Island upon which now his house doth stand which was granted formerly but being confirmed & now recorded.
Reference seems here made to former action on the part of the town.
ye 17th of June 1661 Att a town meeting at Manchester it was ordered & aGread upon by ye inhabitents of ye plantation yt Samuell friend is to have ye Little Island yt is joyning to his marsh at ye great neck of Land where they now plant this was granted to him with the Generell consent of ye planta- tion.2
The meaning is not altogether clear, but it would seem that in 1661, the exchange of land was agreed upon, by which the town obtained possession of the present burial ground on the corner of Washington and Summer streets. It was in use "for a bureall place " in 1668, when, on account probably of some informality, the grant of " Little Island," was " confirmed," and with an additional grant of land " joyning," was "recorded." The location of the land thus granted to Samuell Friend
1 Dr. Leach gives the date, on what authority is not now known, as 1653. This history simply follows the record.
2 Town Records, vol. 1, p. 9.
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APPENDIX C.
in exchange for the land which the town took for a burial ground "by right of eminent domain," cannot now be ascertained. Dr. Leach assumes that it is what was later called the "Island wharf property," on the Smith farm ; but this is doubtful.
This burial ground extended across the present high- way, the road to Gloucester running at that time along the line of what is now Sea street, through the Towne and Dana estates.1 In 1701, the town ordered the bury- ing-ground to be fenced in, and " whoever neglect to work on the same shall be fined 3 shillings," showing the scarcity of money and the low price of labor. In 1716, the burying-ground wall was built, and " six feet in its whole length given in by John Lee Jun." At a Town Meeting called on the 10th Day of March, Anno Domini 1760, it was " Voted that there be a new and Lawfull wall Erected and new set against ye Burying yard and a handsome Gate Erected and Compleated at ye Entrance of said Burying yard in ye Room & Stead of Barrs." 2
The article in the Warrant included also, "to see if the Town will take some method to accomplish the Destruction of Briers : which seem to have almost uni- versally Overspread the Congregation of the Dead : By which means following our Decsd Relatives to their long homes is attended with no small degree of Inconven- iency." 3 This part of the article seems to have failed of being acted upon ; while the briers, however they were fought shy of, showed their usual persistency, and con- tinned to thrust themselves into notice. In the War- rant for the March meeting, 1772, occurs this article :
1 Traces of this old road may still be seen. The more direct road was laid out in 1684.
2 Town Records, vol. II, 85.
3 Town Records, vol. II, 84.
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HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
" To see if the Town will determine upon something respecting the Burying Yard: on consideration that Those : who are Called to follow their Deceased Friends to the Grave may be delivered from those Briers which have : and yet do Encumber such Followers." 1 This time something was done: "34ly voted that Mr Jacob Tewxbury have the use and Improvement of the Bury- ing-Yard free and Clear of Rent untill he shall accom- plish the Destruction of Briars growing in said Yard : provided from this Time he makes use of his best En- deavours for so doing." As no further record appears, it may be supposed that Mr. Jacob Tewxbury's " best Endeavours " were successful, and that the thorny sub- ject ceased to perplex the ways of the fathers.
The oldest stones in this Cemetery on which the in- scriptions are still legible are those of Joseph Woodbury and Wife, 1714; George Norton, 1717; Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Lee, gent., 1720; Lient. William Hilton, 1723; and on a plain piece of granite are the initials, E. H., supposed to be those of Edward Hooper. There are many stones which are evidently older, on which the time-worn lines can no longer be deciphered. Many of these, hewn and dressed by unskillful hands from the common pasture stones, are pathetic memorials of the simple and humble lives of the forefathers.3
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