USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Dover > Narrative history : a history of Dover, Massachusetts, as a precinct, parish, district, and town > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
The last public service held in the old meeting-house
41
BUILDING THE MEETING-HOUSE
was conducted by the Rev. Stephen Palmer, of Need- ham, the steadfast friend of the society, and their spiritual adviser during the Rev. Mr. Caryl's long and continued illness.
Thus, by the hand of an incendiary, was wiped out the meeting-house in which the sacraments were first administered here, in which a fervent prayer was offered for the solace of the wife and children of a minute- man who was among the first to give his life for this nation. It was in this meeting-house that the Dec- laration of Independence was read to the people as soon as it was received after its acceptance by the Continental Congress. Here for seven years were preached those thrilling words of patriotism which encouraged and cheered the hearts of the people during the Revolution. From this meeting-house how many friends and neighbors had gone out for the last time to sleep in the little burying-ground with the beloved dead of almost a century ! What tender memories cluster around the church of our fathers! What tender thoughts and emotions arise when we enter the sacred portals where our ancestors for generations have wor- shipped ! How much one loses from his life who breaks off from these tender ties and associations ! What compensates for the separation ?
In view of the fact that their minister was feeble, many trembled for the future of the church; but the people, full of courage, undertook the task, and raised a meeting-house of much larger dimensions and better architectural proportions than the first.
I Elias Haven. Killed at the battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775.
C'apt. Hezekiah Allen, Joseph Dra- per, Jeremiah Ba- con.
Thomas Rich- ards, Josiah Reed, William Whiting.
Front Door.
Dea. Ralph Day, Dea. Joseph Ha- ven, Hezekiah Al- len, Jr.
Josiah Bacon, Eleazer Allen, Widow Elizabeth Cheney.
Samuel Cheney, Asa Mason, Lemuel Richards.
Men's Stairs.
Women's Stairs.
Joseph Draper, Jr., Jonathan Whiting, David Fuller.
Daniel Haven, John Chickering, John Draper.
Samuel Metcalf, Ebenezer Battle, Widow Mary Fisher.
West
Door.
Aisle.
Aisle.
East Door.
Jesse Knapp, Ebenezer Newell.
Aisle.
Robert Murdock, Eleazer Allen, Jr.
Josiah Briggs, Thomas Merrifield, Joseph Fisher.
Nathan Metcalf, Timothy Merrifield, Theodore Newell.
Seats.
Seats.
Samuel Chickering, Samuel Herring, Jonathan Battle.
North.
John Mason, Joseph Fisher.
Fore
Seats.
John Jones, Esq., Ephraim Bacon, Josiah Richards.
Dea. Joshua Ellis, Nathaniel Wilson, David Chickering.
Pulpit.
GROUND FLOOR OF MEETING-HOUSE.
Samuel Allen, Thomas Draper, Jeremiah Dean.
Seats.
Daniel Whiting, Elias Haven, Samuel Metcalf, Timothy Allen. Pew.
Nathaniel Battle, Daniel Chickering, John Battle, Richard Bacon, Jonathan Day, Asa Richards. Fore Seats.
Stairs.
Stairs.
James Draper, Jabez Baker, Ithamar Whiting, Thomas Burridge,
Aaron Whiting, Fisher Allen,
Ephraim Wilson, John Fisher, John Battle, Jr., Nathan Whiting, John Chickering, Jr.
Young Men's Gallery.
Young Women's Gallery.
PLAN OF GALLERY.
CHAPTER IV.
HOW THEY SECURED A MINISTER.
THE FIRST PREACHER - LETTER FROM THE GRAND JURY OF SUFFOLK COUNTY - PUBLIC WORSHIP NOT CONTINUOUS UNTIL 1759- APPLICATION FOR A DIVISION OF FIRST CHURCH LANDS - VOTE TO CALL A MINISTER - JOSEPH MANNING - SAMUEL DANA - SUPPLIES - CALL TO BEN- JAMIN CARYL - ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH.
If you travel through the world well, you may find cities without walls, without literature, without kings, moneyless, and such as desire no coin, which know not what theatres or public halls of bodily exercise mean ; but never was there, nor ever shall there be, any one city seen without temple, church, or chapel. ... This is that containeth and holdeth together all human society; this is the foundation, stay, and prop of all. - Plutarch.
An appropriation of twenty-five pounds was made November 15, 1749, to defray the expenses of three months' preaching ; and Joseph Draper, Ralph Day, and Daniel Wight were chosen a committee to procure a preacher. As the parish was little more than a dozen miles from Harvard College, the committee was not charged with a difficult task. The preachers, for the most part, were young men still in college, who usually rode in on Saturday and returned on Monday, the parish furnishing entertainment.
In the years that followed, the preacher sometimes became the district school-teacher during the winter season. These early public services were held in the schoolhouse, which was near the center of the parish, and, although owned by individuals, was used for all public meetings.
45
HOW THEY SECURED A MINISTER
Mr. Thomas Jones was the first preacher. He filled an engagement for the thirteen weeks commencing with the first Sunday in December, 1749. Mr. Jones was born in Dorchester, Mass., and graduated from Harvard College in 1741.
Soon after the organization of the church in Stough- ton, in 1744, he was called by the parish to become its pastor ; but the church failed to concur with the parish. He was called to the church at Woburn Precinct, now Burlington, in 1751. He remained pastor of the church until his death, which occurred in 1774. Mr. Jones was stricken with apoplexy in the pulpit just after the morning prayer, and died the same day.
His gravestone, erected by the church at Burlington, speaks of him as having "great diligence, integrity, prudence, fidelity, and meekness of wisdom."
At the close of Mr. Jones's engagement the Spring- field Parish voted not to have preaching during the summer ; and, as the people were scattered, it is not likely that they took up their worship again in other places. As winter approached, they were again mindful of the need of public worship, and the question of appro- priating money to meet the expenses of preaching came up at a parish meeting, November 8, 1749; but, the vote being a tie, no provision was made to meet the expenses of public worship. During the next few years there seems to have been no public worship. In 1754, this fact having come to the knowledge of the court, the parish was notified that public worship must be maintained or they would be called before the court. Doubtless encouraged by the successful efforts of the
40
HISTORY OF DOVER
other parishes in Dedham, the people of the Fourth Precinct were more zealous for separating from the mother church than they were to support worship among themselves.
The notice from the court seems to have reminded the people of their neglect ; and at a parish meeting held October 17, 1754, the moderate sum of £13, 8s., 6d. was voted to meet the expenses of two or three months' preaching. In tracing the development of the Dover church we find that in 1755 the public service was increased to four months' preaching in the winter. In 1757 provision was made for six months' preaching, while in 1758 the people were anxious to settle a min- ister and have a continuous Sunday service. Public worship was made permanent in 1759.
The parish was not forgetful of the lands that had been laid out from time to time to aid the Dedham church in the support of preaching ; and in 1755 the parish appointed Ensign John Jones, Ebenezer Newell, and Lieut. Jonathan Day a committee to make applica- tion to the First Church in Dedham for a division and allowance to this parish of their rights and proportion in the land set apart for the use and improvement of the church.
The Dedham church considered the matter, having also petitions from the Norwood, West Dedham, and Walpole churches ; but the requests were so numerous that the church decided not to divide its lands. While the committee was empowered to take all necessary steps to recover their proportional part of all grants to the Dedham church, yet no legal action was taken by the committee, and the matter was dropped.
47
HOW THEY SECURED A MINISTER
In 1758 the body of the meeting-house having been furnished with seats and a pulpit erected, the parish voted, October 8, to make choice, in the common phrase of the time, of an "orthodox, learned, and pious per- son " to dispense "ye word of God " and administer the special ordinances of the gospel in the parish.
Mr. Joseph Manning, of Cambridge, who had been a frequent preacher in the parish, was unanimously chosen as the minister of the society. The persistent efforts of a poor and scattered people in completing their meeting-house, which covered more than ten years, and in settling a minister, which occupied more than twelve years, must not be attributed wholly to the universal piety of the inhabitants. The law required the organization of a church, and their political privi- leges depended upon it.
King William approved in 1692 a law by the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay that every town should be constantly provided with an able, learned, and orthodox minister of good conversation, to dispense the word of God; and, although the people of this parish were freed from the responsibility of contributing and attending the church at Dedham, they were not freed from the responsibility of settling a minister among themselves, as shown in the watchful care of the court.
The planting of a meeting-house and the final settle- ment of a minister was the most important step in the history of the town. We have only to carry ourselves back in imagination a hundred and fifty years to realize this. The inhabitants were a scattered people of little education, with a pioneer spirit ; having no public com- munication with the town of Boston; with few and
48
HISTORY OF DOVER
poor highways and bridges, no mail facilities, with only one school kept for a few weeks in the year by an itin- erant schoolmaster in a little schoolhouse owned by indi- viduals, and where the scholars were expected to provide the fuel ; with no physician and little medicine for sick- ness ; few books, no newspapers or magazines ; none of the luxuries of life, and little time for social intercourse.
The minister, a man of education and refinement, was settled for life. He was the chief magistrate and instructor, as well as preacher. He settled disputes, gave advice, consulted in sickness, fitted bright boys for college, and gave information on many subjects where knowledge was inaccessible. In short, he was not only a preacher, but stood in the place of all our modern institutions.
Mr. Joseph Manning, who was called to the First Parish church, was born in Cambridge, Mass., and grad- uated from Harvard College in 1751. He was chosen by vote of the parish October 18, 1758, and invited to settle March 1, 1759, at an annual salary of £66, 13s., 4d. As was customary in those days, in order to en- courage the minister to settle, the parish voted to give Mr. Manning, in addition to his salary, £133, 6s., 8d., in lawful money, the whole amount to be paid within two years from the date of his settlement.
Mr. Manning did not keep the parish in long sus- pense, as the following letter shows : -
TO THE INHABITANTS IN THE WEST PARISH IN DEDHAM.
Christian Friends and Brethren,- Having taken into my most serious and prayerful consideration the call you have given me to settle in ye work of ye gospel ministry, I do here send you my answer. I can but heartily rejoice while I consider ye harmony
49
HOW THEY SECURED A MINISTER
subsisting in your parish, and bless God for ye spirit of unity so wonderfully prevailing among you, which, if maintained and pre- served, will undoubtedly facilitate and every way forward ye set- tlement of ye gospel among you. As to your call to me, after weighing matters so far as I am capable, I am obliged to decline accepting it, not being willing to keep you long in suspense, as I was persuaded this would be the result of my thought after ye longest deliberation; and, lest my undesigned delay should be taken for encouragement, this has occasioned me to speedily an- swer, which, speedy as it is, I trust will not be unexpected to you. Therefore, finally, brethren, live in love and peace, keeping ye unity of ye spirit in ye bond of it. And may ye God of peace be with you, may his peace rest upon you. That ye great Shepherd of ye sheep would in due time give you a pastor after his own heart, a faithful minister of ye New Testament to your spiritual edification and abundant joy and comfort, is and shall be ye prayer of your friend in Christ,
JOSEPH MANNING.
CAMBRIDGE, December 4, 1758.
No farther steps were taken to settle a minister for over two years, although there had been continuous preaching by different persons. December II, 1760, the parish voted to extend a call to Mr. Samuel Dana, who had preached in the parish for four months, on the same salary and conditions as were offered Mr. Manning. There seems to have been opposition to Mr. Dana. At the time of his selection Dea. Joshua Ellis presented a paper, signed by himself and fifteen others, wishing to put on record their dissent from the action of the parish. Daniel Chickering represented the committee chosen to wait on Mr. Dana with the vote of the precinct. Mr. Dana was then preaching in Groton, and Mr. Chickering was paid twelve shillings for carrying the vote of the precinct to him. Mr. Dana
50
HISTORY OF DOVER
declined the call, and probably made a verbal reply, as there is no record of any communication from him.
Mr. Dana was a man of strong character. He was born in that part of Cambridge which is now Brighton, January 14, 1737. He entered Harvard College at the age of twelve years, and had for classmates President John Adams, Gov. John Wentworth, and other distin- guished men. He was a man of very decided opinion, and the opposition to him was probably on doctrinal grounds. This call was made just after the close of the French and Indian War and earlier than any opposition to the Crown. Mr. Dana was called to the church at Groton, Mass., February 3, 1761.
He is said to have sympathized with the Crown, and in March, 1775, preached a sermon in favor of non- resistance. This sermon gave great offence to his people, and on the following Sunday he was not allowed to go into the pulpit. He soon asked for a dismissal, which was granted him by the town. He continued to live in Groton for several years, and for a time preached to an independent congregation which sympathized with him. Mr. Dana read law, and later settled at Amherst, N.H. He was appointed Judge of Probate for Hills- borough County, and died in Amherst, April 2, 1798.
The Springfield Parish was fortunate in the men who occupied its pulpit in the years preceding the settlement of a minister. Many were men of deep piety, fine scholarship, and rare ability. These preachers not only developed the character of the people, but in those try- ing times from 1750 to 1760 fostered the spirit of fortitude among them. Perhaps it was too early to awaken a spirit of liberty ; but it came soon after,
5I
HOW THEY SECURED A MINISTER
and was a marked characteristic of the people. Will- iam Symmes filled an engagement during the winter of 1754-55 ; and, as he also taught the Center School during that period, he must have become well ac- quainted with the people. Following his engagement in the Springfield Parish Mr. Symmes was elected tutor in Harvard College, where he remained for three years. November I, 1758, he was ordained as a minister at Andover, Mass. He preached the election sermon in 1785, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard in 1803. He died in 1807.
Mr. Nathaniel Sherman, who was teaching at West Dedham, was also a preacher here in 1755. Mr. Sherman was born in Newton and graduated from Princeton College in 1753, and was ordained as pastor of the church at Bedford, Mass., February 18, 1756. Settled over the church at Mount Carmel, Conn., May 18, 1768, he remained there until his death, July 18, I 797.
The prominent preachers the next year were William Symmes, Thomas Brown, Joseph Cotton, George Minot (Harvard, 1752), Joseph Burbeam, A.M. (Harvard, 1731).
Samuel Locke, A.M., S.T.D., of Lancaster, Mass., preached here for some time. He graduated from Harvard in 1755, was ordained at Sherborn November 7, 1759, and was inaugurated President of Harvard Col- lege March 15, 1770.
Other preachers here, for short periods, were as follows : -
Peter Thacher Smith, A.M., graduated at Harvard College 1753. A son of the Rev. Thomas Smith, of
52
HISTORY OF DOVER
Falmouth, Me. (now Portland). Was ordained minister of the church at Windham, N.H.
William Whitwell, A.M., graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1758, and died in 1781, aged forty-five years, in the twentieth year of his ministry. He was set- tled as an assistant to the Rev. John Barnard, of Mar- blehead, August 25, 1762. It is said of Mr. Whitwell that he was "the gentleman and Christian happily united. He was a well-instructed scribe, concise, pertinent, en- lightening, and winning in address on all occasions."
Eliab Stone, A.M., was born in Framingham, Mass., May 5, 1737, graduated from Harvard College in 1758, and was ordained minister in Reading, Mass., May 20, 1761. He died in 1822 in the eighty-sixth year of his age and the sixty-second year of his ministry.
Samuel Kingsbury, A.M., graduated from Harvard College in 1759.
Nathaniel Noyes was born in Newbury, Mass., in 1735, and graduated from Princeton College in 1759. He commenced preaching in 1760, and spent his life chiefly among the destitute.
Jonathan Winchester graduated from Harvard College in 1737. He was the first minister at Ashburnham, Mass., where he was ordained in 1760. He died in the seventh year of his ministry, 1767, greatly lamented.
Ezra Thayer was a native of Mendon, Mass .; gradu- ated from Harvard College in 1756. He was ordained at Ware, Mass., January 10, 1759. He died February 17, 1775, in the office. He was a man of pleasing address, and easily won the confidence of the people.
Samuel Kingsbury graduated from Harvard in 1759. He preached for a time on the island of Martha's Vine-
53
HOW THEY SECURED A MINISTER
yard, and received a call to the First Church in Edgar- town, Mass., which he accepted, and was ordained the 25th of November, 1761. He died in the office December 30, 1778, much loved and respected.
Thomas Brown was born in Haverhill, and graduated from Harvard College in 1752. He was ordained at Marshfield, Mass., August 21, 1766. He was settled over the church at Westbrook, Me. He continued in the office until his death, October 18, 1797.
William Clark, A.M., born July 22, 1740, son of the Rev. Peter Clark, of Salem (now Danvers), graduated from Harvard in 1759, and became an Episcopal clergy- man. He officiated at Quincy, Mass., in 1767, and the next year went to England to take orders. He was accounted a refugee, and received a pension from the government of Great Britain, and returned to this country after the Revolution.
William Goddard, A.M., graduated from Harvard College in 1761.
Phineas Whitney, of Weston, graduated at Harvard College in 1759. He was settled over the church at Shirley, Mass., in 1762, and remained pastor for more than fifty years. He was a pious man, a successful minister, and a patriotic citizen during the trying times of the Revolution.
Job Whitney, of Marlborough, entered Harvard Col- lege in 1758, and died January 13, 1761. He preached for several months in Brighton, and at the time of his death was preaching as a candidate at Marblehead, Mass.
Joseph Dorr, of Mendon, graduated at Harvard in 1755. He was a son of the Rev. Joseph Dorr, for
54
HISTORY OF DOVER
many years minister at Mendon. Joseph, Jr., did not enter the ministry, but read law. He was for many years a very prominent citizen of his native town.
Timothy Walker, son of the Rev. Timothy Walker, of Concord, N.H., graduated from Harvard in 1756. He did not enter the ministry. He was a patriot of the Revolution, and in 1776 was a member of the Committee of Safety. He commanded a company of minute-men, and served under Sullivan in the campaign at Winter Hill. He read law, and for several years was Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.
Having heard supplies through all these years, at a meeting held April 15, 1762, the parish unanimously voted to extend a call to Mr. Benjamin Caryl, who had been a frequent preacher, to settle as their minister. He was offered, as an encouragement to settle, the sum of £133, 6s., 8d., one-half to be paid in one year, and the remainder in two years from his ordination, with a yearly salary of £66, 13s., 4d., to commence on the IOth of March, 1763. Nathaniel Battle, Dea. Joshua
Ellis, Jonathan Whiting, Samuel Chickering, Capt. Hezekiah Allen, were chosen a committee to wait on Mr. Caryl. This call was accepted; and the parish, in November, organized its church, which it had been so long laboring to establish.
CHAPTER V.
THE FIRST MINISTER.
BENJAMIN CARYL - LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE - ORDINATION -A CONFESSION OF FAITH - CHURCH COVENANT -SE- LECTION OF DEACONS - GIFT OF LAND FOR A PARSON- AGE- MR. CARYL'S BIBLE -DEATH OF MR. CARYL- FUNERAL - ESTIMATE OF HIS CHARACTER -DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER - GRAVESTONE ERECTED TO HIS MEMORY.
" The man of amplest influence, Whole in himself, a common good, Rich in saving common sense, And, as the greatest only are, In his simplicity sublime."
Benjamin Caryl, A.M., was born in Hopkinton, Mass., in 1732, and graduated from Harvard College in 1761. He studied theology with the Rev. Henry Messinger, of Wrentham, whose daughter he married soon after his settlement. Although the call extended to him to settle over the Springfield Parish was made early in April, 1762, he did not reply until nearly five months after. He doubtless considered the question in all its bearings, and after much prayer and meditation, as was the custom of the time, saw his lines cast with this people, whom he faithfully served for nearly fifty years as a devoted minister. He beautifully exemplified in his life the truth of the Scripture, " He that is greatest among you shall be your servant." Mr. Caryl accepted the call of the parish the 5th of September, 1762, in the following letter : -
56
HISTORY OF DOVER
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE SPRINGFIELD PARISH IN DEDHAM, GREETING :
Christian Friends,- I hope I am in some measure sensible of the overruling providence of God in all things, and willing to hear and obey his voice to me therein. Especially would I at this time acknowledge and view the providence of God, both in so far uniting your hearts to invite me to carry on the great work of the gospel ministry among you and in inclining my heart to accept of your invitation.
And I desire to bless God that, after so much pains taken to know my duty, I am so well satisfied with the clearness of my call to settle among you in the work of the ministry, though I hope I am sensible of my own unfitness, unpreparedness, and in- sufficiency for these things ; but being fully persuaded ye Christ as king and head of his church has appointed and established the office of ye ministry to continue in a constant succession to the end of time, and has promised to be with his faithful ambassa- dors always to the end of the world, I do therefore, humbly leaning on Christ's strength, seriously comply with your desire to take upon me the office of a pastor and to administer Christ's ordinances among you.
And as, I hope, I do this with a desire for and aim at the glory of God and our own mutual good, so let your fervent prayers to God be that he would qualify me for this work and adorn me with all needful ministerial gifts and grace, that I may be a work- man that need not be ashamed, and that I may be prospered in my labors among you, if it be his will to place me as a laborer among you, and that we may live in love and peace as followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, that another day we may appear before him with joy and not with grief.
Thus, asking your prayers, I rest,
Your humble servant,
Benjamin Garyé
DEDHAM, September 5, 1762.
OLD CARYL PARSONAGE, BUILT 1777.
57
THE FIRST MINISTER
Dr. Samuel Williams, the famous Vermont editor, and a classmate of Benjamin Caryl's at Harvard College, left some curious notes on the Commencement programme of his class in 1761, in which he picked out six men whom he judged " to be the most advantageous men to the Commonwealth of any in the class, but not to be in the most honorable stations therein." Speaking of Benjamin Caryl, whom he included in this list, he says, " an extraordinary genius, a good scholar and com- panion."
It is to be remembered that the man who made this estimate of Mr. Caryl was himself a fine scholar. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws from the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, and became a member of several learned societies abroad.
The parish voted October 11, 1762, to ordain Mr. Caryl on the 10th of the following month ; and a vote of thanks was extended to John Battle, who had gen- erously offered to entertain the council at his own ex- pense.
As ministers in those days were settled for life, an ordination was of no common occurrence, and was always attended by a large number of people. This was no exception. A West Dedham lad, who wanted to attend the services but did not know the way, was told to go out to the highway and simply follow the crowd and he would have no difficulty in finding the place. On the Sunday previous to Mr. Caryl's ordination a meet- ing was held, perhaps at the house of Dea. Joshua Ellis, where a church organization was formed, which con- sisted of fifteen male members. The church was " em- bodied" by the Rev. Mr. Balch, of the Dedham
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.