USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > History of the town of Westford, in the county of Middlesex, Massachusetts, 1659-1883 > Part 20
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* About three years after his ordination he seems to have complained of this condition as vague and unsatisfactory. The parish explained it by saying that what they meant by money was silver at sixteen shillings per ounce.
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Disposition toward me wh you expressed by your united Con- sent.
I do therefore willingly accept of your Call and am well satisfied with the Salary and Settelment you offered, with the addition you afterward made to them, and do now look upon · myself to be under peculiar obligation to you more than to others ; and when I shall be more formally placed among you and Receive the solemn charge, I will by the grace of God make your spiritual welfare my most important Busi- ness, neither shall I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I shall have Received.
WILLARD HALL."
Organization of the Church and Ordination of Mr. Hall."The Second Church of Christ in Chelmsford was framed of ye members of several of ye neighbouring churches but chiefly of ye first church in this Place. They uniting to- gether (after ye proper Preliminaries to settling a minister) unanimously called Willard Hall * to take ye Pastoral Care of them; and he accepting ye Call, was accordingly or- dained their Pastor & Teacher by ye Reverend Elders fol- lowing, viz: Samson Stoddard who preached & gave ye charge, making ye prayers usually accompanying that solemn Service : Benjamin Shattuck who made ye Ordain- ing Prayer after ye Sermon : Nathaniel Prentice who made ye first Prayer & gave ye Right Hand of Fellowship : and Thomas Parker who gathered & formed ye Church. This first ordaination was solemnized November 27, 1727."
" As the Custom is, where a number of persons in full communion, desire, for allowable reasons, to seperate from yª respective churches & become a distinct organized church by themselves, for them explicitly to enter into Covenant with God & one another ; so here, a Covenant being drawn,
* A marginal note reads thus: " Aged 24 years and upward from March 11th to this time."
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they who had gotten their Dismissions from ye churches they belonged to, set their hands to it, which is here inserted :
THE COVENANT.
" We whose Names are hereunto subscribed, apprehend- ing ourselves called of God into ye Church-State of ye Gos- pel, do first of all confess ourselves unworthy to be so highly favoured of ye Lord, & admire that free and rich grace of his which triumphs over so great unworthiness, & then with an humble Reliance on ye Aids of Grace therein promised for them that, in a sense of their Inability to do any good thing, do humbly wait on him for all, we now thankfully lay hold on his Covenant & would chuse ye Things that please him. We declare our serious Belief of the Christian Religion as contained in the Sacred Scriptures, heartily resolving to conform our Lives unto the Rule of that holy Religion as long as we live in ye world. We give up ourselves to the Lord Jehovah who is the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, & avouch him this day to be our God, our Father, our Savior & our Leader & receive him as our Portion forever. " We give up ourselves unto ye Blessed Jesus who is the Lord Jehovah and adhere to him as ye Head of his People in ye Covenant of Grace, & rely on him as our Priest & our Prophet & our King, to bring us unto eternal blessedness.
" We acknowledge our Everlasting and indispensable obligations to glorify God in all the duties of a Godly, a Sober & a Righteous Life, & very particularly in the duties of a Church-State & a Body of People associated for an Obedi- ence to him in all the Ordinances of the Gospel; and we therefore depend upon his gracious Assistance for our faith- ful discharge of all the Duties thus incumbent on us.
" We desire and intend and (wth Dependence on his promised and powerful Grace) we engage to walk together as a church of ye Lord Jesus Christ, in the faith and order of the Gospel, so far as we shall have the same revealed to us ; conscienciously attending to ye publick Worship of God, ye
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
Sacraments of his new Testament, ye Discipline of his King- dom, & all his holy Institutions in Communion with .one another, and watchfully avoiding sinful Stumbling Blocks and Contentions, as becomes a People whom the Lord has bound together in a Bundle of Life.
.
" At ye same time we do also present our Offspring with us unto God, purposing with his help, to do our Parts in ye methods of a religious Education, that they may be ye Lord's.
" And all this we do, flying to ye Blood of ye Everlasting Covenant for the Pardon of our many errors & praying that ye glorious Lord who is the great Shepherd, would prepare & strengthen us for every good Work by his Will, working in us that which will be pleasing to him. To whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
" Willard Hall,
John Comings,
Samuel Fletcher,
William Fletcher,
Aaron Parker,
Joseph Underwood,
John Procter,
Joshua Fletcher, Jonas Fletcher,
Aquila Underwood,
Nathaniel Boynton, his
Jonas Prescott,
Benjamin X Robbins,
Jonathan Hildreth, Andrew Spalding, Jacob Wright,
mark.
Josiah Whitney."-18.
Samuel Chamberlin,
The date of ordination seems to be the date of the organization of the church. No other can be found on the records. Great deliberation was shown in the action of the parish and of Mr. Hall. He had been with them fourteen or fifteen months, and this gave opportunity for securing a mutual acquaintance. The relation of pastor and people was assumed thoughtfully, and with a sincerity of purpose and aim that is very commendable. It was the custom in those times to observe days of fasting and prayer with reference to the choice of a minister. At such times the neighboring ministers were called in to aid the church in its deliberations, and the records show that such a day was observed here be- fore the call was given.
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ECCLESIASTICAL.
Of the "reverend Elders" who composed the council, Samson Stoddard was pastor of the old church in Chelms- ford ; Benjamin Shattuck was the first minister of Littleton ; Nathaniel Prentice was minister of Dunstable, and Thomas Parker was the minister of Dracut.
Of the original members of the church, John Comings had been deacon in the First Church in Chelmsford, as it appears from the fact that he is called deacon in the records before the church was formed. Joshua Fletcher, Samuel Chamberlin, John Procter, Benjamin Robbins and perhaps Josiah Whitney had been members of the church in Littleton. It does not appear on the records that any women were among the original members ; and the fact is noteworthy since they have always constituted so large a part of all the churches. It is fair to presume, however, that persons of that sex were among the number, since the names of women are numerous in the subsequent record of additions. Yet, with the excep- tion of Parker and Procter, the names of the wives of the original members do not appear on the church-books, not even Madam Hall's. It seems to be an omission that was never supplied. It is charitable to suppose this, for surely they could hardly intend to interpret Paul's words so strictly as to merge the wife in her husband in respect to her ecclesi- astical relation.
The first pastor, Rev. Willard Hall, was born in Med- ford, Massachusetts, March 11, 1703. He was the son of Stephen and Grace (Willis) Hall, and belonged to a family of distinction. He graduated at Harvard College in 1722, in the class of Richard Saltonstall and William Ellery. He married Abigail Cotton, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. Hall were the parents of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters :
I. Willard, born June 12, 1730, at Portsmouth, N. H.
2. Elizabeth, born October 24, 1732.
3. Abigail, born July 19, 1734.
4. Anne, born April 22, 1736.
5. Mary, born July 30, 1738.
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
6. Martha, born June 8, 1741 ; died young.
7. Stephen, born May 28, 1743.
8. Grace, baptized June 30, 1745.
9. Willis, born November 14, 1747.
IO. Isaiah, born January 19, 1749.
II. Martha, born July 16, 1752.
As was usual in those days, Mr. Hall became the pro- prietor of a small farm which he cultivated with great care and success. In 1727 he bought of Josiah Burge eighteen acres of land, and he received by gift one acre from Dea. John Comings. This was situated on the west side of Main Street, and included a tract now severally owned by Charles L. Fletcher, the heirs of Rev. W. F. Wheeler, Charles H. Fletcher, Mrs. Abijah Fletcher, John Lanktree, the heirs of Samuel Wiley and the heirs of the Bancroft estate. This was the homestead, extending probably from the meeting- house to the corner by Greenleaf Drew's house, and perhaps including the land of N. Harwood Wright, Samuel Tilton, Mrs. Asa Hildreth and True A. Bean.
It is difficult to fix the precise spot on which his dwelling stood. An emphatic tradition puts it on the site now occu- pied by the house of the late Rev. W. F. Wheeler, but there is some evidence in favor of the house now occupied by Austin Wright, or one which stood on that site, for this has been several times in the possession of Mr. Hall's descendants.
It is said that he was a good farmer, cultivating fruit trees bearing plums, apricots, peaches, pears and apples ; and that his garden, orchards and fields, years after his death, bore witness to his skill and industry. He also owned land on the north side of Stony Brook, in the vicinity of Thomas Horan's, which, in the old records, is called the Hall Field. It is now a forest, but it was once cultivated. He had a few acres in Providence Meadow. In February, 1731, the town voted " that the use and improvement of the Ministry Meadow, lying in our town, shall be given to the Rev. Willard Hall so long as he continues to be our minister."
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ECCLESIASTICAL.
This was the same lot of ten acres in Snake Meadow which was given up to Westford as their part of the ministerial lands by the old town in 1729. (See page II.) But this being remote from Mr. Hall's house, the town, in September of the same year, " voted to sell the Ministry Meadow and lay out the money in the most convenient place for the use of the ministry." At the same time it was voted to " pay Mr. Hall's salary quarterly," and also " to raise £50 and give it to Mr. Hall this present year." These quarterly payments were continued during his ministry, and were generally made with promptness and punctuality. The record of them usually specifies, with noticeable preciseness, that they were made to Mr. Hall " for preaching the gospel and carrying on the work of the ministry." There is recorded, in his own handwriting, a receipt in full which, as a specimen of the times, may be worth transcribing :
" Westford, August 31, 1733. Rec'd at sundry times of Constable & Treasurers of ye town of Westford, ye full sum of all my Demands upon sd Town, upon all accounts from ye beginning of ye world to ye first day of September, in ye year one thousand seven hundred & thirty-two. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.
WILLARD HALL."
It would not be easy to go back of this with any demand for service or payment of the same.
On the 6th of March, 1731-'2, Thomas Read, Samuel Chamberlin and Joseph Fletcher were chosen a committee to join with Mr. Hall to sell the Ministry Meadow and lay out the money according to the vote of September, 1731. This committee, May 27, 1735, bought for fifty pounds of Benja- min Blodgett, of Litchfield, and Elizabeth, his wife, a tract of land, being part of the estate of Dea. Joshua Fletcher, deceased, containing by estimation three acres and twenty- five rods, lying in Westford, south of the house of Joshua Fletcher, Jr., deceased.
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
This lot, situated about one mile south of the First Parish meeting-house and near the house of Stephen E. Hutchins, now belongs to the heirs of Daniel Flagg.
The sliding scale of Mr. Hall's salary occasioned no little difficulty. In 1733 the town voted to add to his salary yearly the sum of fifteen pounds, to be as silver money at twenty shillings per ounce. Mr. Hall asked for this increase " on account of the fall of money in the year 1732." But the year following, at the request of the town, he relinquished this addition; and the town afterward appropriated, from year to year, such a sum as was deemed an adequate fulfil- ment of their contract, in the fluctuations of the money mar- ket in those times. In 1731 they paid him £100 as salary ; in 1738 it had increased nominally to £180, and in 1741 to £200 in bills of credit of the old tenor. Yet, such was the depreciation in the value of the Province money, that this sum would probably not be equal to his first year's salary. In 1743 a new issue of money was made and his salary was then reckoned at £50, but it rose in 1749 to £100, and fell the next year to £63.
In 1739 he entered a complaint regarding his salary, and the question came up before the town, " whether they would give any direction to the selectmen about Mr. Hall's complaint ; or agree upon some certain method how his salary shall be determined the year past and from year to year ; and to raise money, if they see cause, to complete his salary, if it be not completed already-and it passed in the Negative." Mr. Hall then appealed to the courts for redress in the matter; and the town appointed a committee, consist- ing of Jonas Prescott, Esq., Capt. Thomas Read and Jabez Keep "to stand against and answer the complaint of the Rev. Willard Hall against the town, at the Court or Courts, and to vindicate said town as far as possible in the law, or make use of attorneys as they shall think best." (May 16, 1740. )
The town had previously (Sept. 5, 1739) appointed a similar committee, " to take the votes or attested copies from
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the town book, that are relating to Rev. W. Hall's salary, and his answers to said votes, and go and ask and inquire of Col. Savage, Captain Caleb Lyman and Thomas Hutchin- son, Esq., at Boston, and Daniel Russell, Esq., at Charles- town, and Samuel Danforth, Esq., at Cambridge, their judg- ment, how the Rev. W. Hall's salary is, according to said votes, and his answers to the town about said salary." What the result of this legal controversy was, does not appear from the records. It seems to have been adjusted, however, without much diffiulty ; and apparently it did not produce, as it evidently did not spring from, any exasperated or hostile feeling.
At a meeting, however, of the town in the latter part of the year in which this lawsuit arose (November 25, 1740) a proposition to grant " £60 as a gift to Mr. Hall," probably to make up past dues, was voted down, as were also pro- posals to give £50 or £40. They finally voted "to give nothing."
In 1745 several members of the church were disciplined for " frequently absenting themselves from public worship and from communion at the Lord's table"; also for "attending a private meeting under the ministration of a lay exhorter, in time of public worship on the Lord's day." The names of these members were Joseph Temple and his wife, Aaron Parker, Jr., Jonathan Underwood, Joseph Underwood and his daughter Mary, Aaron Parker, Mrs. Chamberlin and Dorothy Parker, the wife of Aaron Parker, Jr. The meet- ing was held at the house of Jonathan Underwood, and the name of the lay-exhorter was Paine.
Some of these made confession and were restored ; the others were allowed further time for consideration, but in the meantime were debarred from the Lord's table. It does not appear from the record whether they gave satisfaction and were afterward restored to fellowship or not.
*"One Pain, a lawyer, belonging to the Colony of Connecticut, hath lately been introduced into the town by John Burge and Gershom Procter, and divers females of our communion have followed the said Pain, an exhorter, and a very illiterate one, too, to Westford on the Lord's day." (History of Chelmsford, p. 116.)
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
In 1758, September 19, Mr. Hall, together with William Fletcher, as delegate from this church, attended an Ecclesias- tical Council at Haverhill, Mass., which was called to try Rev. Samuel Bacheller for alleged heresy. Mr. Hall dissented from the opinion of the Council in the case, and not long afterward published his views in a small pamphlet entitled " An Answer to Col. Choate : Reasons of Dissent from the Judgment of a Council in a controversy respecting some doc- trines advanced by Rev. Mr. Bacheller, of Haverhill-par- ticularly that the work of Redemption as to Price, Purchase and Ransom, was finished when Christ gave up the Ghost. By Willard Hall, A. M., Pastor of the Church in Westforc. Boston : Printed by Edes and Gill, 1761."
This pamphlet was no doubt an important contribution to the polemic theology of the times. It gives evidence that Mr. Hall was a man of strong intellect and of considerable acuteness. The style is vigorous and the reasoning is clear and forcible. .
No important incident occurred in Mr. Hall's ministry for a few years after the time of this controversy ; but the country was approaching a crisis which severely tried both the pastor and his people.
In 1772, July 6th, the town voted that the selectmen' should provide preaching in case Mr. Hall should remain unable to supply the pulpit. This arose probably from his sickness, and the interruption to his labors at this time was comparatively brief. Rev. Deliverance Smith was employed for ten Sabbaths; after this Mr. Hall resumed his ministrations for a time.
But May 17, 1773, the selectmen were again appointed a committee "to provide preaching till the September meet- ing"; at which time a committee of five was chosen "to treat with Rev. Mr. Hall about his salary, and to provide preaching in his absence." The town at that time granted but £45 for his salary the year ensuing. Mr. John Marsh was paid at this time £4 for preaching three Sabbaths ; or at the rate of £70 a year.
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ECCLESIASTICAL.
March 30, 1774, the town voted " to be in some prepa- ration for settling another minister with Mr. Hall." This is the first intimation that appears of dissatisfaction with his services, either on account of the infirmities of age, or from any other cause. He was then 71 years old.
The remaining years of Mr. Hall's ministry were stormy ones. The essential particulars will be given, but some mi- nor details of the strife will be omitted in the interest of a true charity and a pure taste.
At a meeting of the church, August 10, 1774, Mr. Hall proposed choosing a committee "to assist him in preparing an account of the general disorders which subsisted among them, for the hearing of the church or of an ecclesiastical council, if it should be thought needful." But the church refused to concur in the measure.
November 1, 1774, Mr. Hall read to the church a list of complaints in which he mentioned by name six or seven prominent men, especially the two youngest deacons whom he arraigns for unfaithfulness in their office.
According to some memoranda that have been pre- served in connection with the records of the old church " the selectmen, by desire of several of the town's people, hired Mr. Samuel Ely to preach." He officiated but two Sabbaths; for something derogatory to his character ap- peared in the newspapers of the day, and "Mr. Hall found so much fault with him that he was sent away." Mr. Hall told them " to take advice of some good minis- ter" concerning a candidate, or "to go to the College [i. e., Harvard] and hire some likely young man to come and preach for them." The selectmen accordingly sent down one of their number "to Cambridge to take Mr. Appleton's advice who to hire." He recommended Mr. John Mellen and Mr. Joseph Thaxter, and they were both engaged to preach, according to a vote of the town. "The next Sabbath," the account goes on to say, Mr. Hall " made a long speech to the congregation, reflecting on the selectmen for hiring a preacher." This
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
opposition, however, was unavailing; for the town pro- ceeded in their course, and afterward employed Mr. Thaxter. His services were acceptable to the people ; for he preached in the town for more than a year, and received a call to settle both from the church and the town.
The disaffection toward Mr. Hall still continued, and, September 5, 1774, the town voted "to dismiss the Rev. Willard Hall from any further service in the town as a minister, provided the church should think proper to dismiss him from any further service in his ministerial office in said church."
However, they raised £42 for his support the year ensuing, in case the church should not see fit to dismiss him.
October 27, 1774, the church called in the aid of Rev. Ebenezer Bridge, of Chelmsford, " to assist in mod- erating a church-meeting.". But about a month later the town voted not to take under their consideration the advice of Rev. Mr. Bridge. They also voted " not to hear Mr. Willard Hall any more as a minister of the Gospel," but " to hire preaching further in order to settling a minister with us."
December 27, 1774, the church voted to call an eccle- siastical council, which assembled February 7, 1775, and though no record of their doings is preserved, yet from a document on the town books, it would appear that they advised the settlement of a colleague. "Proposed (Ist) that Rev. Willard Hall consent to the settlement of a gospel minister with him. (2nd) That in consideration of his great bodily infirmities, this church expects that he will consent that from and after the time of settlement, the whole exercise of calling and presiding in all church meetings be placed in the latterly settled pastor. (31ª) That with a view to the restoration of the invaluable blessing of peace, this church engage to use their best endeavors that £25 be paid by this town to the Rev.
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Willard Hall within ten months, that he enjoy the use of the ministerial pasture, and be paid yearly the sum of £46 13s. 4d. by quarterly payments, during his natural life. (4th) That all past offences subsisting between Pastor and Brethren be mutually forgiven, and that we all will strive together by our prayers and best endeavors that Unity, Love and Peace may prevail here, that the God of Peace may be with us.
" Consented to by the church, nemine contra dicente, and by Willard Hall upon condition of the town's com- pliance."
The town, at a meeting held February 27, 1775, com- plied with the conditions, except in regard to the use of the ministerial pasture, which was refused; and they also appointed " a day of Fasting in order to give some gentle- man a call to settle in the ministry in this town."
These efforts of the church and town did not bring about a final cessation of strife. The political views of Mr. Hall caused great uneasiness among the people, and in September, 1775, the town voted to rescind the pledge to give him £25, and refused to raise any money for his support. After various attempts to effect a reconcilia- tion, the church assembled November 30, 1775, and voted " to dismiss the Rev. Willard Hall from his pastoral relation to this church, for reasons to be given." These reasons are set forth in the records. They relate mainly to Mr. Hall's attitude toward the Colonial Government and the cause of civil liberty. At a meeting of the town, held January I, 1776, and called for the express and sole purpose of acting in reference to the dismission of Mr. Hall, it was voted " to concur with the vote of the church in this town in the dismission of Rev. Willard Hall from his minis- terial office and to dismiss him for the reasons given by the church."
His ministry extended over a period of forty-eight years. There were received into the church during his pastorate 274 persons-256 by profession of faith, 18 by letters of
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HISTORY OF WESTFORD.
recommendation from other churches, and 34 were dis- missed to churches in other towns. The number who "owned the covenant" was 344.
Mr. Hall baptized 1535 children and solemnized 280 marriages.
He united the offices of pastor and physician, thus, in the condition of society at the time, greatly extending his influence and usefulness. He was a strenuous supporter of education for all. The town, on one occasion, considering itself excused by special emergency from levying the required school-tax, he complained to the General Court and arraigned his own charge before that tribunal. In this he offended, as he knew he would, many of his people ; but he would make no compromise with delinquency in this matter. Dr. Phillips Payson, pastor of Chelsea, Mass., bore testimony in strong terms to the pleasure of having an acquaintance with him, and mentioned as remarkable the clearness and strength of his mind. He died March 19, 1779, and was buried in the East Burying- Ground. The following is the inscription on his monument :
ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE REVEREND WILLARD HALL, FIRST PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST in Westford. DIED MARCH 19, 1779, AGED 77 YEARS,* and in the 52nd year of his Ministry.
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