USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Medford > History of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1630, to the present time, 1855 > Part 21
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REV. AARON PORTER.
This gentleman was born, July 19, 1689, in Hadley, Massachusetts. His great-grandfather was John Porter, of Windsor, Connecticut. His grandfather, son of John, was Samuel Porter, who was one of the first settlers of Hadley, in 1659, and died in 1689, leaving seven children. His father was Samuel Porter, Esq., eldest son of the above- named Samuel. He was born in 1660; married Joanna, daughter of Aaron Cook, Esq., of Hadley ; was a gentleman of wealth and influence, extensively engaged in trade, and at one time High-Sheriff of the County. He died in the sum- mer of 1722, aged sixty-two, leaving three sons and four daughters, all of whom are mentioned in his will. At the time he executed his will, Jan. 30, 1722, he knew not of the
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death of his son, Rev. Aaron Porter, though he had then been dead a week; a striking proof of the difficulty of com- municating intelligence.
The minister of Medford was the second son and the third child of the above Samuel, and was named Aaron, in honor of his grandfather Cook. He was graduated at Harvard College, 1708 ; previously to which he had joined himself to a society formed at college, May, 1706, that met weekly "for prayer and spiritual discourse."
Of his ordination at Medford, Chief Justice Samuel Sewall gives the following account in his diary. After mentioning a vehement, drifting storm of snow the day preceding, he writes : -
" Wednesday, Feb. 11, 1713: Mr. Aaron Porter is ordained pastor of the church at Meadford. Mr. Angier, of Watertown, gave the charge ; Mr. Hancock, of Lexington, the right hand of fellow- ship. The storm foregoing hindered my son Joseph (settled the same year over the Old South Church in Boston) from being there. Were many more people there than the meeting-house could hold."
In the autumn of the same year, Mr. Porter married Su- sanna, daughter of Major Stephen Sewall, Esq., of Salem, and a sister of Stephen Sewall (H. C., 1721), afterwards Chief Justice. Judge Samuel, her uncle, gives the following account of the wedding : -
" 1713, Oct. 22: I go to Salem; visit Mrs. Epes, Colonel Ha- thorne. See Mr. Noyes marry Mr. Aaron Porter and Miss Susan Sewall at my brother's. Was a pretty deal of company present. Mr. Hirst and wife, Mr. Blowers (minister of Beverly), Mr. Pres- cot (minister of Danvers), Mr. Tuft, sen. (father of Rev. John Tufts, of Newbury), Madame Leverett (lady of Pres. Leverett), Foxcroft, Goff, Kitchen, Mr. Samuel Porter, father of the bride- groom, I should have said before. Many young gentlemen and gentlewomen. Mr. Noyes made a speech : said, Love was the sugar to sweeten every condition in the married relation. Prayed once. Did all very well. After the Sack-Posset (a common article of entertainment at weddings), sung the 45th Psalm from the 8th verse to the end, - five staves. I set it to Windsor tune. I had a very good turkey-leather Psalm-book, which I looked in, while Mr. Noyes read ; and then I gave it to the bridegroom, saying, ' I give you this Psalm-book in order to your perpetuating this song ; and I would have you pray that it may be an introduction to our singing with the choir above.' I lodged at Mr. Hirst's."
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We may say a word, in passing, of these customs of our ancestors. The Psalm-book used on this occasion was the " New England Version, or Bay Psalm-book." The psalm was " deaconed." The portion sung was ten verses, C. M. The first two lines were : -
" Myrrh, aloes, and cassia's smell All of thy garments had."
The last verse, to which the Judge seems to allude in what he said to the bridegroom, as he presented the " turkey- leather Psalm-book," read thus : -
" Thy name remembered I will make In generations all ; Therefore, for ever and for aye Thy people praise thee shall."
The tune selected seems to us a singular one for the occa- sion. " Windsor " is a proper tune for a funeral ; but, for a wedding, how dull! So thought not our ancestors. While they gloried in singing sprightly " York " or "St. David's " on Sunday, solemn "Windsor " or "Low Dutch " (Canter- bury) was their frequent choice at weddings and other festal occasions.
Mr. and Mrs. Porter came to Medford immediately after their marriage, and lived happily together. They were highly esteemed by their uncle, Judge Sewall, who frequently called on them when going to Salem and Newbury. His diary says : ---
" July 28, 1714 : According to my promise, I carried my daughter Hannah to Meadford, to visit Cousin Porter. In her mother's name, she presented her cousin with a red coat for her little Aaron, blue facing, for the sleeves galoon. Cost about 12s. 2d. I carried her three oranges. Gave the nurse 2s., maid 1s. Hannah gave the nurse 1s. Got thither about one. Over the ferry before dark. 5s. for the calash. Mr. Porter went to Salem on Monday, and was not come home, though the sun scarce half an hour high, when came away. Laus Deo."
Rev. Aaron Porter was ordained as the first minister of Medford, February 11, 1713. His own record is as fol- lows : -
" May 19, 1712 : The town of Medford called me, Aaron Porter, to serve them in the work of the ministry ; which call (after serious and frequent application to the God of all grace) I accepted as a call from God.
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" Feb. 11, 1713 : This day was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer, in order to separate or ordain me to the sacred office of a minister of the gospel. The reverend elders sent to assist in this solemn action were these following: seil., the Rev. Mr. Samuel Angier, of Watertown ; Mr. William Brattle, of Cambridge; Mr. John Hancock, of Lexington ; Mr. Simon Bradstreet, of Charles- town; Mr. John Fox, of Woburn; and Mr. David Parsons, of Malden ; all of whom (except the Rev. Mr. Wm. Brattle and Mr. Jolın Fox, who at this time labored under bodily indispositions) were present, with other delegates of the churches.
"The reverend elders and messengers being assembled at the house of Br. John Bradshaw, the first thing they did was the gathering a church ; which was done by a number of the brethren's signing to a covenant prepared for that purpose."
By a law of the General Court, passed March 3, 1636, each church must be recognized and approved by the magis- trates soon after its organization ; otherwise its members can- not be admitted as freemen of the Commonwealth. The Medford church was so approved. Malden was fined, in 1651, for settling a minister "without the consent of the neighboring churches or the allowance of the magistrates."
"Covenant. - We, whose names are hereunto subseribed, appre- hending ourselves called of God to join together in church com- munion (acknowledging ourselves unworthy of such a privilege, and our inability to keep covenant with God, or to perform any spiritual duty, unless Christ shall enable thereunto), in humble dependence on free grace for divine assistance and acceptance, we do, in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord, freely covenant, and bind ourselves solemnly, in the presence of God himself, his holy angels, and all his servants here present, to serve the God whose name alone is Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the only true and living God; eleaving to him, our chief good, and unto our Lord Jesus Christ, as our only Saviour, Prophet, Priest, and King of our souls in a way of gospel obedience; avouching the Lord to be our God, and the God of our children, whom we give unto him, count- ing it as our highest honor that the Lord will accept of us, and our children with us, to be his people. We do also give ourselves one unto another in the Lord, covenanting to walk together as a church of Christ in all the ways of his worship, according to the holy rules of his word; promising in brotherly love faithfully to watch over one another's souls, and to submit ourselves to the discipline and power of Christ in the church, and duly to attend the seals and censures, or whatever ordinances Christ has commanded to be observed by his people, so far as the Lord by his word and spirit has or shall reveal unto us to be our duty ; beseeching the Lord to own us for his people, and delight to dwell in the midst of us. And,
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that we may keep our covenant with God, we desire to deny our- selves, and to depend wholly on the free mercy of God, and upon the merits of Jesus Christ ; and wherein we fail to wait upon him for pardon through his name, beseeching the Lord to own us as a church of Christ, and delight to abide in the midst of us.
"JOHN WHITMORE. THOMAS HALL. NATHANIEL PIERCE. EBENEZER BROOKS. JOHN FRANCIS. SAMUEL BROOKS. THOMAS WILLIS. STEPHEN WILLIS.
JOHN WHITMORE. JOHN BRADSHAW.
STEPHEN HALL. PERSIVAL HALL.
JONATHAN HALL.
FRANCIS WHITMORE.
THOMAS WILLIS, jun.
"Signed Feb. 11, 1713.
" This being done, we went to the place of public worship, where the Rev. Mr. Simon Bradstreet began with prayer. Prayer being ended, I preached from those words in First Epistle to the Corin- thians iv. 2: ' Moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful.' This being done, the Rev. Mr. Angier proceeded to ordination; Mr. Hancock, Mr. Bradstreet, and Mr. Parsons joining in the imposition of hands. After this, the Rev. Mr. Hancock gave me the right hand of fellowship. We then sung part of the 132d Psalm ; and so concluded with giving the blessing.
" Thus, through the goodness of our ascended Lord and great Shepherd of his sheep, we see another candlestick of the Lord, and a light set up in it. The Lord, who walks in the midst of his golden candlesticks and holds the stars in his right hand, dwell with us, and keep us pure, without spot or blemish, and enable his unworthy servant (who is, of himself, nothing but simpleness and darkness, and cannot shine but with a borrowed light), by faith and prayer, to derive from him, who is the head of influences to his church, such measures of light and grace, that he may be instrumental of turn- ing many from darkness to light, and at last shine in the kingdom of heaven as the stars for ever and ever.
" March 11: The church being called together, they made choice of Brothers Thomas Willis, sen., and John Whitmore, sen., as dea- cons in the church ; and they accordingly accepted. At the same time, it was determined that the sacrament of the Lord's Supper should be celebrated on the 22d of March following, and continued once in six weeks till otherwise determined. It was likewise agreed upon, at this time, that the ordinance of baptism should be adminis- tered, not only to the infants of such as are in full communion, but to the infants of such as are baptized, being neither ignorant nor scandalous, upon their owning the covenant publicly ; supposing at the same time that the persons admitted to this privilege with their children are under the care and watch of this church, and subject to the discipline of it; and that the church may and ought at any time to call them to an account in case of scandal."
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Whitmore House, Medford, 1680 to 1840.
July 20, 1714, Mr. Porter makes the following record : -
" The church being together, some of them manifested an uneasi- ness, that in time past I had not, at the admission of members, read publicly something of what I had received from them in private ; and desired that, for time to come, I should make it my practice so to do. In compliance with which desire, I promised to ask it of all such as should offer themselves to us ; but could not see any rule to impose it as a necessary term of communion, so as to keep out such as are qualified according to the gospel, merely because they can- not comply with this practice. It being no institution of our Sa- viour, all that his churches can do is only to desire it as an expedient, but have no power to command it, or, for want of it, to deny the communion to any that are qualified and regularly seek for it.
" At the same time, I proposed to the church that an handy-vote should not be demanded or expected at the admission of members ; but that (liberty of objecting being first given) their silence should be taken for consent; with which the church concurred."
Here is a slight indication of that Christian jealousy exist- ing in the New England churches in reference to purity of doctrine and discipline. This watchfulness and almost sus- picion of new comers and of each other was an American, and not a European, trait ; and it arose from the fact that our fathers came here to establish a pure church, and therefore judged this spiritual espionage to be their solemn duty and sure defence.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Jan. 4, 1714 : It was voted " that such persons as shall read the psalm in the meeting-house shall sit in the deacon's seat."
"June 17, 1715: Voted that such persons as shall contribute on the sabbath-days any silver money or black-dogs towards Mr. Porter's salary, shall be allowed, out of the minister's rate, what he thus contributes."
A deposition was made before the authorities at Boston, July 29, 1701, that " dog or lion dollars had been counter- feited."
March 9, 1720 : Deacon Thomas Willis, on account of old age, resigns his office in the church ; and in the next month, April 6, Mr. Percival Hall is chosen in his place. Before this choice was made, the church voted that not a plurality of votes among the candidates, but a majority of all the votes cast, should be required to constitute a choice.
At this time it was voted by the church, that -
" Such members of other churches as come to reside among us, with a desire to continue with us, should be required to obtain a recommendation from the churches they came from, and so put themselves under the watch of the church in this place ; and if they refuse to do so within one year after their coming among us, without giving the church a satisfactory reason for their neglect, they shall be denied the privileges of members here."
May 17, 1721 : The town passed the following vote : -
"To invite Mr. John Tufts, of Charlestown, to sit at the table in our meeting-house; and also his wife to sit in Captain Tufts's pew, by his consent."
Aug. 2, 1721 : " At a church-meeting, Thomas Willis, jun., was chosen a deacon for this church."
There are no records of marriages or funerals during the ministry of Mr. Porter. He baptized one hundred and twelve persons, and admitted twenty-six to the church.
The above extracts contain all the facts of general ecclesi- astical importance recorded during the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Porter. They prove to us several interesting particulars. They leave us to infer that our Medford ancestors selected the right man for their first teacher and pastor, - a peace- maker, who poured the oil of Christian love upon the troubled waves of the Woodbridge storm. His learning, discrimina- tion, and wisdom are seen in his decision of the case brought
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before him by members of his church, who probably wished him to require from candidates a narrative of their Christian experiences as a condition of their admission. He objected to it, and would " not impose it as a necessary term of commu- nion." Such narratives, he maintained, were " no institution of our Saviour," and therefore could not be imposed as condi- tions of acceptance ; and he converted his church to this truth. His ministry was short, but fruitful. He found the church disturbed, and left it quiet. " Blessed are the peace- makers ; for they shall be called the children of God."
These records prove, moreover, that our fathers adopted the great republican principle of the right of a majority in the forms of congregational government and discipline. They were followers of the apostolic Robinson, who was the found- er of the Independents, or Congregationalists ; and therefore they held to choosing their own minister, and then asking an ecclesiastical council to ordain him. They were thus opposed to the Brownists, who held that the laity might ordain their own pastors.
We further learn, from these extracts, that the services of ordination were somewhat different from those in our day. The council demanded not the testimonies from the candidates so generally required now. No examination was instituted, no confession of faith was read, and no charge was given him how or what to preach.
The extracts furthermore record the gathering of the First Church in Medford. Fifteen members, who had joined the churches in neighboring towns, signed the covenant which had been drawn for that purpose. Eleven of these brethren were connected with the church in Cambridge, one with that in Braintree, one in Watertown, one in Woburn, and one in Mal- den. Why the sisters did not sign, we are not told ; and it would be hard to give a Scriptural reason for their exclusion. The " covenant," while it states the three relations, - first to God, second to the Redeemer, and third to each other, - leaves unnoticed those specific doctrines, the belief in which has since been made a term of communion. The "old-fash- ioned Arminianism," so called, seemed to be the form of Christian faith extensively embraced by our ancestors. The church included nearly all the congregation, so far as heads of families were concerned.
We conclude these inferences with a few words concern- ing the earliest pastors in New England.
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HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
Pastoral visits and parochial duties must have been peculiar when a clergyman had to find his way from one family to another by marked trees! 'The connection between the minister and people was deemed as indissoluble as the mar- riage-tie. To the intelligence, self-sacrifice, and piety of these men of God, we owe that church, that school, and that family altar, which have made New England what we now behold it. Fides probata coronat.
The Rev. Mr. Porter, after a peaceful and valuable minis- try of nearly nine years, died at his post of duty, Jan. 23, 1722, aged thirty-three.
Mr. Porter had some property from his father. There is a " deed of fifty or sixty acres of land, with a wharf and warehouse thereon, adjoining the river in Medford, conveyed by him, Jan. 7, 1716, to Benjamin Wyman, of Obum, malt- ster, for seventy-five pounds, New England currency." It was acknowledged before Stephen Sewall, Esq., of Salem, his father-in-law ; and on the back is this note: "Sold to Stephen Hall, on the 7th of June, 1739."
We regret that so little is on record concerning this beloved minister of Christ. With respect to his decease, we have the two following records : -
"1722, Jan. 23: The reverend minister of Meadford dies, Mr. Porter, which married Unkle Sewall's daughter." - S. Sewall's MS.
" 1722, midweek, Jan. 24: Just about sunset, Mr. Brattle told me that Mr. Aaron Porter, the desirable pastor of the church in Meadford, was dead of a fever, which much grieved me." - Judge Sewall's Journal.
In the burying-ground is a marble slab, with this inscrip- tion : "Sacred to the memory of Rev. Aaron Porter, the first settled minister of Medford."
June 18, 1722 : By the advice of the President and Fel- lows of Harvard College, the town held a fast, to seek divine guidance in procuring a minister ; and Rev. Messrs. Colman, Fox, Hancock, Brown, and Appleton were invited to conduct the religious exercises. Thus, after the death of their first minister, the inhabitants of Medford took steps to supply their pulpit with candidates ; and, after hearing a few, they voted (May 25, 1724) " to hear Mr. Turell two sabbaths, and Mr. Lowell one sabbath, and then make a choice." It was usual for the church to nominate the candidate, and for the town to elect him. On one occasion, the Medford church nominated three candidates at the same time. Mr. Nathaniel
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Leonard (H. C. 1719) was chosen : settlement, one hundred pounds ; salary, eighty pounds. Mr. Samuel Dexter was afterwards chosen on the same terms. Both these gentlemen declined. Before this period, however, even as early as Oct. 1, 1722, the town, as a town, passed some resolutions which must have sounded bold to English ears. "Voted that they would proceed to the choice of a minister by the majority of votes." Regardless of the church's claim to two votes, here is a true democracy recognized ; and it was meant to look very little like Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, or Romanism.
To raise money by contributions in the meeting-house on Sunday was very common. From March 5, 1713, to Oct. 19, 1718, they gathered £27. 16s. 8d. From Oct. 28, 1718, to Aug. 2, 1721, they gathered £15. 5s. 8d.
REV. EBENEZER TURELL.
HISTORY OF MEDFORD.
This gentleman was a native of Boston, born 1701, and graduated at Harvard College 1721. He studied his pro- fession with Rev. Benjamin Colman, of Boston ; and on the 17th June, 1724, the Selectmen of Medford having appointed that day for a town-fast, Mr. Colman preached a fitting ser- mon from these words : " And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." After this preparatory service, the town proceeded to elect, unanimously, the Rev. Ebenezer Turell to be their pastor and teacher, - a hundred pounds settlement, and ninety pounds salary, and strangers' money, to be paid semi-annually. To this invitation Mr. Turell returned the following answer, dated Aug. 31, 1724 : -
" Forasmuch as the God of the spirits of all flesh (npon our seek- ing unto him by prayer and fasting) has inclined your hearts to elect and call me, who am less than the least of all saints, and unworthy the name of a teacher of Christ, to settle with you in the work of the evangelical ministry, I thoughit myself in duty bound to take this weighty and important call into my most serious and religious consideration ; and, in the first place, to look up to hea- ven unto that God who is wonderful in council as well as excellent in working, for his gracious assistance, direction, conduct, and bless- ing ; and, in the next place, to apply myself unto the servants of God, together with my Christian friends, for counsel and advice in this important affair; which, accordingly, I have done with what of sincerity and humility the grace of God has afforded me. I do, therefore, in the first place, offer my unfeigned thanks unto Almighty God for his gracious assistances vouchsafed unto me, and for the kind acceptance he has granted me with his people, that he has so far inelined me to take up the cross, and follow a glorious Saviour in the arduous and honorable employment of the gospel ministry. I desire, likewise, thankfully to receive the respect which you, the church and congregation of Medford, have put upon me in your late elections and invitations. I hope I am not altogether insensible of the sacredness of the office, of the importance and difficulty of the employments of a minister of Christ; and therefore I would not undertake it with carnal and worldly views, as a trade to live by, or with a prospect of advancing my worldly circumstances, but, I hope and trust, with an eye to the honor of Christ and the good of immortal souls, to demolish Satan's kingdom, and to advance the kingdom of God in the hearts and lives of men, which are the great ends which are chiefly and principally to be looked at and aimed at in the whole business of a minister, and which I would count my highest honor and ambition to attain.
" But then it is not altogether improper, but necessary, for a minis- ter of Christ to see to it that he has a comfortable subsistence and
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maintenance afforded unto him, whereby he may uphold the dig- 'nity of the ministerial functions, and comply with the apostolical precepts in the gospel relating to his carriage and behavior : which leads me to consider the offers you make me for my support and comfortable living amongst you. To which I would make this answer, and reply : First, that the one hundred pounds you offer me for my settlement, I do accept ; secondly, that the ninety pounds you have voted me for my year's salary, when made one hundred pounds, I do accept; thirdly, the strangers' money, or the weekly contributions, I do for the present accept ; but, in case many of those whom you now call strangers become inhabitants, by a grant of the adjacent lands to the town of Medford, or any other way be obliged to rates unto the ministry of said town, - I say, in case it should be so ordered in the methods of Providence, I shall expect a rational proportion or allowance. Things being thus ordered, I do manifest my acceptance of your call to the work of the ministry ; earnestly beseeching your ardent and fervent prayers to Almighty God for me, that he would more and more prepare me for, incline me unto, and strengthen, assist, and enable me in, the work where- unto he has called me ; that, in whatsoever part of God's vineyard I may be called to labor in the same, I may be faithful and successful, preaching not myself, but Christ Jesus the Lord.
" And now I commend you all unto the divine grace, conduct, and blessing, entreating that the God of peace and of love would dwell among you ; that his glorious kingdom may be advanced in and by you ; that the Father of lights and of mercy would bestow upon you every good and every perfect gift ; that in this world you may live a life, a faith, and holiness, and at last stand perfect and com- plete in the whole will of God, obtaining the reward of your faithful services, - even a crown of glory that shall never fade away, through Jesus Christ. Amen. Yours to serve, " E. TURELL."
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