USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Plymouth church records, 1620-1859 > Part 4
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On the 24th of September the church again met for further con- sideration of this request. The petitioners explained that they had nothing further in view than that the removal of relations from one church to the other in the future be regulated according to the usual practice of this and other Congregational churches in New England, and they relinquished their claims to the church furniture, being convinced that as it was given to the First Church the present mem- bers were not exclusively entitled to it, and therefore had no right to the disposal of it. They asked only for the privilege of using it a certain time until it was convenient for them to furnish their own table.
A petition was presented, signed by eighteen males and thirty- five females, asking that they be dismissed from their present rela- tions to the First Church in order to be set off into a distinct church by the name of the Third Church in Plymouth, and the request was assented to unanimously. Then the church voted to grant the. privilege of using the communion service for two years. So without apparent bitterness, with singular unanimity, their church was established in Plymouth with substantially the same provision as to the admission and recommendation of members as was made when the church in Leyden was divided, and the members of that church
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xliv
INTRODUCTION
who "went should be an absolute church of themselves as well as those who staid."
The Legislature by an act passed March 1, 1802, incorporated by name 144 men and 8 women with their "polls and estates" into a parish by the name of the Third Congregational Society in Plym- outh.1 The third precinct or parish which was first established in 1744 had been re-united with the first parish by the act of March 20, 1784. The original petition for this act of incorporation in 1801, which is preserved in the State archives, bases the application for a charter upon five reasons which were given as follows:
1ª* [That the petitioners had] Erected a new building for public worship in which a respectable Congregation has Attended for more than one Year.
2ª That fifty three members of the first Church have been regularly dismissd from that Church which was nearly one half of its members & have formed into Church estate by the name of the 3ª Church of Christ in plymouth, who with others of your petitioners Cannot Concientously unite in public worship with those from whom they Seperated.
3ª That the precinct is too numerous to worship in One house as it consists of 30402 Souls & more than 500 rateable poles, & being so numerous the people cannot be Accommodated with Seats in one house. 4th That your petitioners have to Support not only their public teacher, but have to pay to support the minister of the first precinct.
5th Considering the extent of the precinct & numerous Inhabitants your petitioners think the present pastor inadequate to perform the requirements of his office To the whole.
The number of inhabitants of the town, the fact that there were more than 500 adult males which made it impossible, if there was , that general desire on the part of the people to attend divine worship which it had been assumed existed in earlier days, for the existing meeting-house to hold the possible worshippers, might of itself justify the establishment of another society within the limits of the town. That the theological differences which existed were more minute and technical than substantial, appears in the report of the committee, which was accepted by the town, to which was referred the applica- tion of some of the petitioners for the sale to them of a part of the
1 Acts and Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1801 (1897), pp. 342-344.
" Perhaps "3044."
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INTRODUCTION
Training Green belonging to the town upon which to erect their meeting-house. The committee said in part in its report to the town on the 5th of April, 1800:
To comply with the request of the applicants by granting a lot in Training Green for the purpose mentioned would, in the opinion of your committee, not only preclude the town, under whatever circum- stances it may be, from opposing the prosecution of that object, but would sanction the separation of a small number of persons on principles that do not appear to be substantial and well-founded. If religious societies are to be split up into divisions merely from a variance of sentiment in certain polemic speculations, about which the greatest and best men in all ages of the Christian church have differed, each Christian must consecrate his own dwelling as his sanctuary, for scarcely two of the best informed Christians can be found precisely to agree on every controverted point.
The church records during Mr. Kendall's ministry relate mainly to church meetings and election of church officers and delegates to the various ordinations and councils to which the church was in- vited. The records of baptisms, marriages,1 and deaths were kept in full as was the custom of his predecessors. Dr. Robbins on January 1, 1799, recorded a list of members of the church who were admitted before he came to Plymouth and a list of all members admitted during the term of his settlement, and the list of admissions to and dismissions from the church was continued and kept by his successor.
The rigor of church discipline which had prevailed in the past was much relaxed and may be attributed in part to a less strict and formal compliance with disputed points of doctrine which had divided the church members in former years, as well as to the political, social, and economic changes which these changing years brought.
. But few cases of discipline are recorded in the later records, and in most cases diligent effort was made by the appointment of com- mittees and others instructed to wait on the delinquents and per- suade them to correct the objectionable practices, without enforcing the severity of church discipline.
In July, 1823, it was voted to alter the terms and conditions of becoming members of the church and enjoying Christian privileges,
1 Cf. p. xxx and note 2, above.
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INTRODUCTION
in order to render them more in accordance with the requirements of the Gospel and more agreeable to apostolic practice, and more in accordance with the usage of this ancient church for one hundred and seventy-five years.
It was noted that in the year 1795 a departure from the ancient usage was introduced by adopting a written creed or confession as a condition of admission to the Christian ordinances, and it was de- termined that that was in fact a departure from the practice of the church from the time of our forefathers and from the first principle of Protestantism, which is a sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for all the purposes of faith and practice. Instead, therefore, of continuing to make a public acknowledgment of this creed a condition of en- joying fellowship and communion in the future, it was voted unani- mously to return to the former practice of the church in this respect and adopt the covenant made use of by the church previous to the years 1795. The original church covenant was as follows:
You do (now) in the presence of God, in the presence of his holy Angels, and in the presence of this solemn assembly, this day avouch the Lord Jehovah, the only living and the true, God, to be your God, and to give up yourself to him alone, acknowledging God the Father be your Father and Sovereign: And giving yourself unto the Lord Jesus Christ as your only Priest and atonement, as your only Prophet and Guide, as your only King and Lawgiver; and to the Holy Spirit of God as your only Sanctifier and Comforter; and also giving up yourself to this Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, You do solemnly promise by the help of his grace to walk with God and this his Church, in ways of holy Communion, and due subjection to all his holy ordinances, and accord- ing to his will, revealed in his holy word.1
It was also voted that written relations should no longer be required as a term of admission to Christian ordinances, but that it should be optional with the applicant to communicate his request in writing or verbally through the pastor.
The word "Unitarian" does not appear in the records earlier than June, 1828, when a letter was communicated from the Second Con- gregational Unitarian Society in New York, requesting the aid of this church by their pastor and delegate at the ordination of Mr. William Parsons Lunt over said society .? Prior to that time many
1 Pp. 574-575, below.
' P. 579, below.
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INTRODUCTION
churches, to which this church was invited to send delegates to the ordinations or meetings of ecclesiastical councils, were not referred to as Unitarian churches but uniformly as Congregational churches or by their proper legal title. That the distinctive name of Unitarian was not adopted by the First Parish although its affiliations with that denomination existed in fact, is shown by the organization on February 14, 1831, of a religious society in the town under the name of the "Unitarian Society." On May 16, 1831, that society elected the Rev. James H. Bugbee for their teacher for the year ensuing. At that time Mr. Bugbee was the minister of the Uni- versalist Society in Plymouth. It had a brief existence, the date of the last entry in its record being April 30, 1833.
On the 15th of June, 1837, the church again voted unanimously to adopt the following provision and declaration as the form and condition in the future of admission to the church and of partaking of the ordinances of the Gospel:
Believing the scriptures of the Old and New Testament to contain the word of God, and to be the only and sufficient rule of faith and practice; it is my (or our sincere) desire and purpose of heart in profess- ing this belief, in joining the Chh, and partaking of the Ordinances of the gospel by the aid of his grace to live by the faith of the Son of God, and thus to walk in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless.1
This form it is stated, "being so much in harmony with the Sim- plicity that is in Christ and so conformable to the primative prac- tice of the Chh, it is hoped and believed will tend to remove from the minds of sincere and devout persons, their reasonable objection against joining the Chh, and availing themselves of the satisfaction and benefit of enjoying the christian Ordinances."
On January 1, 1838, the Church unanimously voted to invite the Rev. George W. Briggs of Fall River to become an associate minister with the Rev. Dr. Kendall, and to "approve of the proceedings of the Parish at a meeting held on the thirteenth day of October last," whereby Mr. Briggs was invited to become colleague pastor with the Rev. Dr. Kendall. Twenty-six churches were invited to take part in the installation of Mr. Briggs on January 3 and were gen-
1 Pp. 590-591, below.
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xlviii
INTRODUCTION
erally represented by their pastors and delegates, two churches, defined as Unitarians, were included; the church at Fall River and the church at Buffalo. On December 31, 1852, the connection between the church and parish and the Rev. Mr. Briggs, at his par- ticular request, was dissolved, after a continuance of fifteen years of great unanimity and satisfaction on the part of the society and unbroken harmony between the junior and senior pastors. Mr. Briggs accepted the invitation of the First Congregational Society in Salem to become its minister.
The parish records record an invitation to Mr. Henry L. Myrick to settle as a colleague with the Rev. Dr. Kendall, by vote of the parish on the 19th of May, 1853. For the first time the church does not appear to have voted on the settlement of a minister. Mr. Myrick accepted on July 9th, and a council was summoned by the First Church and Society in Plymouth for his ordina- tion as associate pastor, which met at the Samoset House on the 21st of September, 1853. Ten churches were represented by pastors and delegates and voted to proceed with the ordina- tion. The connection of the Rev. Mr. Myrick with the church as colleague pastor was dissolved at his request in September, 1854.
On April 8, 1855, the Rev. George S. Ball, late of Upton, com- , menced his supply of the pulpit for one year, as associate pastor of i the First Church, by invitation of the First Parish through their committee; on March 1st, 1856, he was invited to settle as colleague pastor, and remained until April, 1857, when his connection was dissolved at his own request.
On the 8th of November, 1858, the Rev. Edward H. Hall was invited to become the associate pastor of the society. Mr. Hall accepted the invitation and was ordained on January 5, 1859, the senior pastor of the society making the ordaining prayer.
Dr. Kendall died honored and beloved on the 8th of March, 1859, and these volumes are completed with the last entry in the hand- writing of the aged minister and his pastorate of nearly sixty years is finished:
A connexion formed under such favorable and auspicious circum- stances - and with so much harmony and unanimity of feeling and expression - inspires the hope of and promises a result most favorable
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Fleeting How Plymouth Built 1683
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Built in the year 1683. Jaken down 1744 45 fest By 40 - 10 in the walls. Scato 20 fest to un buen. It sleod inionet the first tohunch non stands.
MEETING HOUSE
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Second Meeting house, Plymouth, 1683-1744 Engraved for The Colonial Society of Massachusetts from a drawing of unknown date
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INTRODUCTION
to the Christian growth and prosperity of this Chh. and Parish. Our desire & prayer are that this hope & this result may be realized.1
The members of the First Church have worshipped in five meet- ing-houses. The first, erected in or about 1648, stood on the north- erly side of the Town Square and remained until 1683, when it was taken down.'
During Mr. Cotton's ministry the second meeting-house was erected in 1683, nearly upon the site of the present meeting-house, although its front is believed to have been about twenty feet farther easterly. This building was taken down on July 3, 1744.8
The third meeting-house was raised during Mr. Leonard's min- istry on July 17th, 1744, the congregation meeting in it for the first time on July 29th of that year. On April 10, 1831, the last religious service was performed in this building, which had stood for eighty- seven years. The text on the occasion was "Who is left among you that saw this house in its first glory? and how do ye see it now?"
1 Pp. 718-719, below. The reference is to Mr. Edward H. Hall.
" The two earliest allusions to the first meeting-house appear to be the follow- ing. On December 4, 1647, a committee was chosen at a town meeting "to make the rate for comon charges being 3£ And allso 25 pounds for ye meeting house;" and on May 17, 1649, a town meeting was "holden at the meeting house" (Plym- outh Town Records, i. 22, 28).
' Two sketches of the second meeting-house are reproduced facing p. xlviii. When or by whom they were drawn is not known, but they came into my posses- sion from the family of William S. Russell. The handwriting of the inscription underneath the lower sketch has not been identified. But the words "Meeting House Plymouth Built 1683," written above the upper sketch, are in the hand of Samuel Davis (1765-1829), as appears from a comparison of them with a manu- script volume now owned by the Boston Athensum. This volume, with the printed label "Historical Extracts" on the back of the cover, contains entries about Plymouth made by Mr. Davis in the years 1810-1814. On p. 74 he mentions the second meeting-house, but makes no allusion to these sketches.
It is pertinent to add that it was Samuel Davis who, so far as is known, first used the term Pilgrim Fathers. In an ode written by Thomas Paine (later Robert Treat Paine, Jr.) for the anniversary of the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society on May 29, 1795, we read:
But, lo, across th' Atlantic floods, The Star-directed pilgrim sails!
In an ode written for the Boston celebration of Forefathers' Day on December 22, 1798, Mr. Paine employed the expressions "pilgrim man" and "heirs of Pil- grims." Mr. Davis's ode in which the term Pilgrim Fathers first occurs, was written for the Boston celebration of Forefathers' Day in 1799. See Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, xvii. 326, 331, xviii. 32-33.
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INTRODUCTION
(Haggai, ii. 3.) The next day the workmen began to take down the house.1
The foundations of the fourth meeting-house were completed and the frame was raised during Dr. Kendall's ministry on June 2, 1831. On the 14th of December the new church was completed and solemnly dedicated to the worship and service of Almighty God. In the afternoon of the day of dedication the pews were all sold, except such as were reserved for the aged and paupers, for a sum more than sufficient to cover the expense of the new church and to pay the pewholders in the old house at the appraised value. This building stood until November 22, 1892, when it was destroyed by fire. The pastor notes a remarkable circumstance as an interposi- tion of Providence that on the 22nd of November, 1831, during a severe tempest, the church was struck by lightning, the pinnacle of the church was destroyed, the plating forced from the column, and the granite pillar upon which it rested was removed .? No other damage was sustained by the tower. The body of the building was not injured, although several persons were within the tower at the time and two in the bell deck room, yet no one suffered the slightest injury.3.
The corner-stone of the present meeting-house, the fifth, built of stone, was laid on June 29, 1896, and the dedication occurred on December 21, 1897.
The silver owned by the First Church has been fully described by Mr. E. Alfred Jones."
ARTHUR LORD.
1 A sketch of the third meeting-house is reproduced facing p. 288, below. When or by whom it was drawn has not been ascertained, but it also formerly belonged to Mr. Russell. In his Historical Extracts, mentioned in the pre- vious note, Mr. Davis does not mention the sketch, but writes: "The model of this House seems to have been taken from the Old Brick Church which form- erly stood in Cornhill Boston. . . . The Bird on the spire is of copper gilt - & was made at Boston by M" Drowne" (p. 75). The allusions are to the meeting-house of the First Church, Boston, built after the fire of 1711, and to Shem Drowne.
' P. 584, below.
" A reproduction of the fourth meeting-house faces p. 584, below.
" Old Silver of American Churches (Letchworth, England, 1913), pp. 374-376.
LISTS OF PASTORS ASSOCIATE PASTORS, ELDERS, DEACONS, ETC.1 1620-1859
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PASTORS
CHRONOLOGICAL
ALPHABETICAL
1629-1635 Ralph Smith
John Cotton
1669-1697
1636-1654 John Reyner
Edward Henry Hall
1859-1867
1669-1697 John Cotton
James Kendall
1800-1859
1699-1723 Ephraim Little
Nathaniel Leonard
1724-1760
1724-1760
Nathaniel Leonard
Ephraim Little
1699-1723
1760-1799 Chandler Robbins
John Reyner
1636-1654
1800-1859 James Kendall
Chandler Robbins
1760-1799
1859-1867
Edward Henry Hall
Ralph Smith
1629-1635
ASSOCIATE PASTORS
1838-1852 George Ware Briggs
George S. Ball
1855-1857
1853-1854 Henry Lewis Myrick
George Ware Briggs
1838-1852
1855-1857 George S. Ball
Edward Henry Hall
1859-1859
1859-1859 Edward Henry Hall
Henry Lewis Myrick
1853-1854
ELDERS
1620-1644 William Brewster
William Brewster
1620-1644
1649-1691 Thomas Cushman
Thomas Cushman
1649-1691
1699-1746 Thomas Faunce"
Thomas Faunce
1699-1746
.
1 Previous to Mr. Cotton's ministry, the dates are more or less conjectural. In addition to the pastors in the list, all of whom were regularly settled, the following preached at different times, but were never settled: John Lyford, 1624- 1625; - Rogers, 1628; Roger Williams, 1631-1634; John Norton, 1635-1636; Charles Chauncy, 1638-1641; James Williams, between 1654 and 1667; William Brinsmead, between 1654 and 1667. A Mr. Glover was apparently to come over in 1635, but died in London before his expected departure. There are allusions in the Plymouth Town Records to James Williams, who on September 16, 1663, was allowed £60 (i. 54); and to William Brinsmead under dates of December 27, 1665, February 5, and September 11, 1666 (i. 77, 78, 82).
In 1757 James Sproat, in 1759 Job Whitney, and in 1759 Nathaniel Potter were chosen pastors, but declined.
" On March 7, 1694, Thomas Faunce and Isaac Cushman were "nominated . . . for Elders" (p. 173, below). On June 16, 1695, the "matter of Elders being named, & then nominated, desired to give their answer, Bro: Faunce declined a
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LISTS OF PASTORS, ELDERS, DEACONS, ETC., 1620-1859
DEACONS 1
CHRONOLOGICAL
ALPHABETICAL
1620-1621 John Carver
John Atwood
1716-1754
1620-1633 Samuel Fuller
Nathaniel Atwood
1694-
1629-1633 Richard Masterson
Joseph Bartlett
1745-1783
1629-1633 Thomas Blossom
John Bishop 1797-1801
John Doane
Thomas Blossom
1629-1633
William Paddy
John Carver
1620-1621
John Cook
Thomas Clark
1694-1697
-1669 John Dunham
Thomas Clark
1728-1728
1669-1687 Robert Finney
John Cook
1669-1693
Ephraim Morton
Rosseter Cotton
1822-1837
1686-1699
Thomas Faunce
William Crombie
1777-1814
1694-1727
George Morton
Jonathan Diman
1784-1797
1694- Nathaniel Atwood"
John Doane
1694-1697
Thomas Clark
Lemuel Drew
1812-1825
1716-1741
John Foster
John Dunham
-1669
1716-1754 John Atwood
Thomas Faunce
1686-1699
1728-1750
Haviland Torrey
Robert Finney
1669-1687
present acceptance of the call from sense of his owne unfitnesse, Bro: Isaac Cush- man desired further time of consideration; In which time our bretheren engaged in promoting a new society in our westerne præcincts, gave Bro: Cushman an earnest call to teach the word of God to them & desired our chh to consent thereto" (p. 177, below). Isaac Cushman accepted the call to the new society, which later became Plympton. On April 3, 1699, Thomas Faunce was again chosen elder, this time accepted, and was ordained October 4 (pp. 187, 189, below).
1 Some of the dates are conjectural.
There is mention of "Deacon Rob Harlow" on May 12, 1751 (p. 447 below); of "Deac" Nathaniel Warren" on February 26, 1767, and December 27, 1792 (pp. 396, 420, below); and of "Deacon Cornelius Holmes" on August 11, 1773 (p. 402, below). All three were presumably deacons of some other church.
Sylvanus Bartlett and Lemuel Bartlett were chosen deacons in 1777, but declined. (Pp. 352, 353, 354, below.)
In his Account of the Church (Appendix to Mr. Philemon Robbins's Sermon, 1760), Mr. John Cotton gave the names of the deacons down to 1760. In a copy of the Account owned by Mr. Lord, in the margin of p. 4 is written, in the hand of Mr. Cotton, "M" James Hirst." There was a James Hirst (or Hurst) at Plymouth in the early days, but his name apparently does not occur in the church records, and the authority for Mr. Cotton's statement is unknown.
" Nathaniel Atwood is in the records variously called "Atwood" and "Wood." The date of his death is unknown. Whether he was the father of Deacon John Atwood, whose name also variously appears as "Atwood" and "Wood," has not been ascertained.
liii
LISTS OF PASTORS, ELDERS, DEACONS, ETC., 1620-1859
CHRONOLOGICAL
ALPHABETICAL
1728-17281 Thomas Clark
John Foster
1716-1741
1745-1777 Thomas Foster
Thomas Foster 1745-1777
1745-1783 Joseph Bartlett
Samuel Fuller 1620-1633
1754-1776 John Torrey
Richard Masterson 1629-1633
1777-1814 William Crombie
Ephraim Morton
1669-1693
1784-1797 Jonathan Diman
George Morton
1694-1727
1784-1818
Ephraim Spooner
Ichabod Morton
1832-1841
1797-1801 John Bishop 2 1812-1825 Lemuel Drew
William Paddy
Wm. Putnam Ripley 1818-1842
1818-1842
William Putnam Ripley
Thomas Russell
1853-1854
1822-1837 Rosseter Cotton
William Shaw Russell 1853-1863
1832-1841 Ichabod Morton
Ephraim Spooner
1784-1818
1853-1863 William Shaw Russell
Haviland Torrey 1728-1750
1853-1854 Thomas Russell
John Torrey 1754-1776
1 Haviland Torrey and Thomas Clark were chosen deacons on January 22, 1728, the choice was concurred on February 11, and they were "in the Name of the Chh desired . . . to Accept of that Office and take their places in the Dea- cons seat & be assisting with the other Deacons as Occasion shall require till they be Regularly Ordained." Haviland Torrey was duly ordained on December 29th, but Thomas Clark died on March 18th before ordination. (Pp. 237, 238, 239, below.)
' Exactly how long John Bishop remained deacon is uncertain. He was elected deacon on April 10, 1797 (p. 513, below). On March 6, 1800, he requested "to be dismissed from his office, as deacon, in this Chh," but "was prevailed with to withdraw his request" (p. 543, below). On September 24, 1801, a John Bishop was dismissed from the First Church to the Third Church (p. 547, below), and presumably this was Deacon John Bishop. At all events, there is no further allusion to John Bishop as deacon until January 6, 1812, when the church voted " to adjourn this meeting to first tuesday in Feb. for the purpose of making choice of a Deacon in the room of Dea. Bishop resigned some years since;" and on February 4 the adjourned meeting voted to "proceed to make choice of a Deal to fill the vacancy made by the resignation of Dea" Bishop" (p. 559, below). Yet his gravestone states that he died March 26, 1830, and that "he was Deacon of the Church 34 years" (Kingman, Epitaphs from Burial Hill, p. 165). Perhaps he became deacon of the Third Church in 1801.
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