USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Westfield > Sermon commemorative of the two-hundredth anniversary of the First Congregational church of Westfield, Mass. > Part 4
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JOHN LEVERETT, Gov". SIMEON BROADSTREET DANIEL GOODWIN SR THOMAS DANFORTH JOIN PYNCHON Assist. EDWARD TING JOSEPH DUDLY 1
Thomas Gun, John Maudesley, Samuel Loomis and Isaak Phelps were recommended by letters " writ to myself," as Mr.
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Taylor says, from Windsor. John Root brought a letter from Farmington, Josiah Dewy and John Ingerson from Northampton.
C.
From a letter received by the Hon. William G. Bates at the time of celebrating the town bi-centennial, from Mr. Henry W. Taylor, of Canandaigua, N. Y., a few brief extracts may prop- erly be made to heighten our estimate and enlarge our conception of the first pastor. The whole sketch, as given in the Bi-Cen- tennial volume, is well worthy of perusal :
" He was born in England, educated for the ministry, studied seven years in one of their universities ; but the ejection of two thousand dissenting clergymen in 1662, and the persecutions which that class of christians suffered, induced him to a voluntary exile. He was, through his whole life, a most voluminous writer, keeping a diary of the running events of his life, and recording things of passing interest. He left a large number of written folio volumes, and he was in the habit of transcribing, with his own hand, the books which were loaned to him by his friend Judge Sewall of Boston. * Mr. Taylor also studied medicine ; and during his life was accustomed to minister as well to the diseases of the body, as of the soul. He also gave attention to natural history, and some of his compositions were published in the scientific literature of the day."
The writer of the above, his great-grandson, has a small book of his, inscribed on the title-page :
" Such things as are herein contained are the Principalls of Physick, as to the practical part thereof, being extracts of that famous Physician, Riverins."
In the same book President Stiles, Mr. Edward Taylor's grand- son, bears witness to his attainments as a literary man :
"He was an excellent classical scholar, being master of the three learned languages, a great historian, and every way a very learned man. He was an incessant student, but used no specta- cle glasses to his death. I have a manuscript folio of six hun- dred pages, his commentary upon the Evangelists.
A man of small stature, but firm ; of quick passions. yet seri- ous and grave,"
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A MODEL LOVE LETTER.
The following is a copy of the original letter among the col- lections in the Connecticut Historical Society, written by the Rev. Edward Taylor, of Westfield, Massachusetts, July, 1674, to Miss Elizabeth Fitch, daughter of the Rev. James Fitch, one of the original proprietors, and the first clergyman settled in the town of Norwich.
This letter was written by the Rev. Mr. Taylor to Miss Fitch -reputed to have been a beautiful and accomplished lady- during his courtship, and was to have been read, if opportunity offered, at the bi-centennial dinner, by Colonel George L. Perkins, a great-great-grandson of the Rev. Mr. Fitch :
WESTFIELD, Mass., 8th day of the 7th month, 1674.
MY DOVE :- I send you not my heart, for that I hope is sent to Heaven long since, and unless it has awfully deceived me it hath not taken up its lodgings in any one's bosom on this side the royal city of the Great King; but yet the most of it that is allowed to be layed out upon any creature doth safely and singly fall to your share. So much my post pigeon presents you with here in these lines. Look not (I entreat you) on it as one of love's hyperboles. If I borrow the beams of some sparkling met- aphor to illustrate my respects unto thyself by, for you having made my breast the cabinet of your affections as I yours mine, I know not how to offer a fitter comparison to set out my love by, than to compare it unto a golden ball of pure fire rolling up and down my breast, from which there flies now and then a spark like a glorious beam from the body of the flaming sun. But alas ! striving to catch these sparks into a love letter unto your- self, and to gild it with them as with a sun beam, find, that by what time they have fallen through my pen upon my paper, they have lost their shine and fall only like a little smoke thereon in- stead of gilding them. Wherefore, finding myself so much de- ceived, I am ready to begrudge my instruments, for though my love within my breast is so large that my heart is not sufficient to contain it, yet they can make it no more room to ride into, than to squeeze it up betwixt my black ink and white paper. But know that it is the coarsest part that is couchant there, for the finest is too fine to clothe in any linguist and huswifry, or to be expressed in words, and though this letter bears but the coarsest part to you, yet the purest is improved for you. But now, my dear love, lest my letter should be judged the lavish language of a lover's pen, I shall endeavor to show that conjugal love ought to exceed all other love. 1st, appears from that which it represents, viz .: The respect there is betwixt Christ
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and his church, Eph. 5th, 25th, although it differs from that in kind ; for that is spiritual and this human, and in degree, that is boundless and transcendent, this limited and subordinate ; yet it holds out that this should be cordial and with respect to all other transcendent. 2d, Because conjugal love is the ground of con- jugal union, or conjugal sharing the effects of this love. is also a ground of this union. 3d, From those Christian duties which are incumbent on persons in this state as not only a serving God together, a praying together, a joining in the ruling and instruct- ing their family together, which could not be carried on as it should be without a great degree of true love, and also a mutual giving each other to each other, a mutual succoring each other in all states, ails, grievances ; and how can this be when there is not a love exceeding all other love to any creature? And hereby if persons in this state have not love exceeding all love, it's with them for the most part as with the strings of an instru- ment not tuned up, when struck upon makes but a jarring, harsh sound. But when we get the wires of an instrument equally drawn up, and rightly struck upon, sound together, make sweet music whose harmony doth enravish the ear ; so when the golden strings of true affection are struck up into a right conjugal love, thus sweetly doth this state then harmonize to the comfort of each other and to the glory of God when sanctified. But yet, the conjugal love must exceed all other, yet it must be kept within bounds, for it must be subordinate to God's glory ; the which that mine may be so, it having got you in its heart, doth offer my heart with you in it as a more rich sacrifice into God through Christ, and so it subscribeth me,
Your true love till death, EDWARD TAYLOR. This for my friend and only beloved MISS ELIZABETH FITCHI, at her father's house in Norwich.
The reader of this letter does not fully appreciate it, and can not do so, without seeing the fac-simile of it. An imperfect de- scription can not do justice to it. The reverend gentleman brought the fine arts to his aid ; and rightly so, for love itself is one of the fine arts, and is so denominated by one of the old Roman poets.
Our types do not allow us to copy the pictorial illustrations ; but our readers may fancy a " pen and ink sketch " of what he calls a dove, in the lower corner of the letter, of the size of an old-fashioned ninepence, without feathers, and looking like a plucked chicken. It was necessary to denude it of its feathers, 6
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to have room to inscribe upon the side of its body the following couplet :
This dove and olive branch to you Is both a post and emblem too.
INVENTORY OF REV. EDWARD TAYLOR.
IN RECORDS OF PROBATE OFFICE OF NORTHAMPTON, VOL. 5 .- AN ANCIENT TOME BOUND IN HOG-SKIN PARCHIMENT.
Hampshire Westfield, Oct. 14th, 1729 Deacon David Ashley & [ James Dewey & Nehemiah Loomis were appointed & sworn to apprize the estate of the Revd Mr. MR. EDWP J Edward Taylor Lately Deceased in Westfield TAYLOR. aforesª. John Ashley Just. Peace. An Inventory ¡ of the Estate of the Reynd. Mr. Edward Taylor De- ¿ ceased this done Aug. 29th, 1729
No. 1 .- A Great coat 20s. A lined Jacket 20s. A shirt 6s, a shirt 3s, a pair of breeches 2s. Two pair of breeches 1s. A Hat 13s. Gloves 1s. 2 Bands 1s. 6d. An old Gown 3s. A Jacket 3s. Two brown under Jackets 2s. A white woolen under Jacket 6d. To a Bed and Bolster in the Parlour Chamber £3. 15 : 0. A set of brown stamped brown curtains & Valliants 15s. Bedsted Rope & Rods 20s. Hair Cloth 20s. An old flower'd Rug at 5s. A white Blanket at &s. A Good Flower'd Rug at 25s. A white Rng 10s. A Flag Matt, 1s. 6d. A Streaked Pillow 5s. A Red Rug 5s. An old Feather Bed in the Parlour 40s. A Bolster 9s. A Pillow 6s. A Blanket with black streaks Gs. A Set of Red Curtains & Valliants 30s. An old under Bed 2s. Bedstead & Rop. 20s. A new Bed in the outward chamber £3. An underbed 2s. another old underbed 3s. Old streaked curtains Vallece & Bedstead Gs. An old Bol- ster some feathers in it 3s. A Bed in the outwd room Bolster & Pillows £4. 15s. Two Rugs in the outward room 30s. the Bed- stead Ropes & Matt, 5s. An old white Blanket 33. An old piece of Green Broad Cloth 3s. A pair of sheets 18s. A good sheet 9s. 3 old sheets 11s. A sheet Ss. An okl sheet 3s. Two sheets 20s. Two old sheets 3s. An old sheet 2s. Gd. An old Cotten sheet 4s. A good sheet 8s. Another good sheet 8s. A pair of Good sheets 25s. Six Cotten Napkins 18s. An old Ilolland Table cloth 3s. Another Table Cloth 2s. 5 Towells wove with a wale 7s. 6d. Two old Towells Is. Two Towells 2s. A Holland Pillow Bier 3s. 2 Pillow biers 2s. 6d. A Table Cloth 1s. 6d. A Napkin 1s. A strainer 1s. A Great Pie Plate 10s. A Great Platter 14s. A Platter 13s. Another Platter 13s. 3 Platters 36s. 3 more Platters 80s. One Platter 10s. one Platter 12s. two Platters 18s. A little Platter 3s. 5 plates 15s. Two old plates 4s. A Bason 4s. 6d. 2 basons 4s. 6d. 2 little basons 2s. 6d. A pint cup, 4s. 6d. Old Pewter 6s. A
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Tankard 6s. 6d. Part & wheels 10s. Cups & Tin 2s. 6d. A Coller 6s.
No. 2 .- Traces 18s. A Slead 6s. Small Caps & pin 2s. 1 Hoe 5s. An ax 4s. 2 Wedges 4s. Beetle rings 2s 6d. Yoak & Irons 5s. Several Old Rings & pieces of fetters 3s. An ax 6s. Another pail 2s. Another pail Is. 2 pottles 2s. A churn 2s. 6d. Dishes & Trenchers 3s. A Great wheel 5s. A little wheel 5s. A wreal 2s. 6d. A cheese fat & straining dish Is. 6d. An oll Book Is. Cards 2s. 6d. Old Iron 2s. 2 old Barrels 3s. Seales & Waits 1s. 6d. Knives & forks 6s. A pair of shears & 2 little bottles 1s. 6d. A Sow & two pigs 36s. Another sow 30s. 9 swarms of bees £4. 10s. Od. Two forks 3s. A Plow & Irons 20s. Plow chain 14s. A Rug in the Garret 15s. A ham- mer 1s. 6d. A Heifer £3. 5s. Od. A little heifer 17s. Another heifer £1. 14s. Od. A Young horse £7. 0s. Od. A Colt 50s. A Malt Trough 10s.
No. 3 .- A Great Kettle £5. 0s. Od. A Midling Kettle £2. 15s. Od. A Less Kettle, £1. 15s. Od. A little Skillit 6s. A Three leged Brass pan 18s. A Brass Pan 20s. A Great Skillit 10s. A Pie pan 4s. A brass Scummer & Ladle 7s. 6d. A Brass Candlestick 4s. A flat candlestick 2s. Hand Irons Brass Plates 16s. Hand Iron Tops 8s. A warming Pan 25s. An Iron Dish Kettle 17s. An Iron Pot 20s. one Trammel 6s. Another Trammel 4s. Pothooks 3s. A pair of Tongs 6s. An- other pair 4s. A slice 4s. Great Hand Irons 20s. Grid Irons 12s. Great Flat Hand Irons 6s. Little Slim Hand Irons, 4s. Grid Iron 5s. frying pan 9s. A spit 5s. A Brass Chopping Dishi & little piece of Bass 4s. A Burning Iron 1s. A Fender 1s. A Branding Iron 2s. A turn Gouge 1s. A Swivle 1s. 6d. A Box Iron & Heaters 6s. An Iron Candlestick 1s. Hetchels 5s. Musket 10 s. A Pistol 4s. A Hewing Ax 2s. 6d. A Par- cel of old Iron 2s. 6d. Collerhooks 1s. A Plain Iron 6s. ham- mer 1s. A chamber pot 1s. A Tunnel 10d. paper box 4d. A Paper Morter & Pestle 3s. Gd. Earthen Pans 1s. 4d. Great Table in ye Parlour 25s. A Great Table in the Outwd Room 20s. A Silver Tankard £15. 5s. Od. A two car'd cup, one Pottinger a salt seller & 4 spoons & a drain cup Total wt. 37 0%. £34: 0s. Od. A Black Cow £5. 10s. Od. The Gallows cow £5.10. Od. The Lined Cow £5. 5s. Od. A little Table 8s. 5 chairs 15s. 3 chairs 7s. Gd. 2 Great chairs 6s. one 2. Two high chairs 7s. 2 Old chairs 1s. A Chest of Drawers 30s. A Narrow chest 2s. 6d. A long form 7s. A Cupboard Cushion 10s. A Looking Glass 2s. A staff Is. 6d. A chair table 11s. A Looking Glass 16s. A carved chest 16s. A new chest 6s. A Trunk 6s. An Indian bark 1s. A little square trunk 1s. A joint stool 3s. A compass 1s. A flaskit 5s. The Studdy Table 10s. The little old bellows 4s. An old hour glass Is. A Box in the Studdy 4s. Wooden Steelyards Is. 2 old chests 5s. A
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Half bush" 2s. 6d. A two pound weight 1s. 3 Sievs 1s. 6d. 2 old barrels 2s. A Pork barrel 2s. 6d. A Cider barrel 2s. A cider barrel 3s. A small Cask 1s. 6d. A Beer barrel 2s. A Powdering Tub 2s. 2 old Casks in the Celler 2s. An old lye tub 1s. A Mashing Tub, 2s. A half tub 1s. Funnel 2s.
The total valuation of his property thus inventoried amounts to £182, 0s., 6d. That of his library, which is also inventoried in the same record, is £54, 4s., 7d.
D.
After receiving the impressive deliverance of Samuell Par- tridge, who was Judge of Probate of Hampshire County, respect- ing the site of the second meeting-house, it was voted that his re- port should be the " finall ishew " of the matter.
" At the same meeting it was voated by the town that they would begin to raise the new meeting house on Wednesday morn- ing at 2 hours by sun in the morning the 8th day of this instant June, assembling to work at the beat of drum every morning until it is over.
At the same meeting it was voated yt all men belonging to the town shall assist in the work of raising the meeting house from 17 years of age & upwards on pain & penalty of 3 shillings pr. day for every days neglect duering the time of raising ex all such as shall make a satisfactory excuse to the Comitey yt have the chairge of ye mater.
At the same meeting it was voated that the comitey shall have liberty to prepare four or five barels of beer at the town charge for that consern above mentioned.
At the same meeting it was voated that Captain Phelps, Deacon Noble & Deacon Ashley should go & desier Mr. Taylor to come to the place of raising the meeting house then & their at the time appointed to seek to God for his guide & protection in the work of raising."
E.
The Rev. Nehemiah Bull was descended from an ancient and honorable family of that name in Hartford. His great-grand- father, Capt. Thomas Bull, one of the early settlers of that city, was honorably and usefully connected with the bloody battle
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against the Pequot Indians in May, 1637, when, as a historian of the period has said :
" More bravery was displayed and greater good achieved to New England, than by any battle which has since been fought, not excepting the battle of Bunker Hill. The Pequots were the most warlike and blood-thirsty Indian nation in New England. By this action they were defeated and ruined as a nation, as their fort was destroyed, seventy wigwams burned, about six hundred Indians killed in the action by fire and sword, with only about seventy active white men in the field ; by which action Connecti- cut was saved."
Rev. Mr. Bull's oldest son, William, a physician, married Jane, daughter of Colonel John Ashley, of Sheffield. They had a son William, who entered the profession of his father.
F.
The " Half-Way Covenant," to which reference has been made, is here given in full :
" I believe (we) yt there is one only living & true God In- finite Eternal & Unchangeable in his being, wisdom, Power, Holiness, Justice, Goodness & Truth, Distinguished into & sub- sisting in 3 Persons, who are ye same in substance essence & at- tributes Equal in Authority, Glory & Majesty but distinguished by their - - & personal propertys, ye father being ye first in order begetting ye Son, ye Son ye 2ª begotten of ye father, ye Holy Ghost ye 3ª proceeding from ye father & ye Son. I (we) believe yt this God is ye Almighty Creator ye wise & Good upholder, ye Just Sovereign Governour & disposer of all his creatures & all their actions. I (we) believe yt man created in his image in a state of integrity was placed under a covenant of life upon con- dition of perfect obedience but by his disobedience lost both his uprightness & title to life & is by nature in a state of weakness enmity, pollution, Guilt, unrighteousness & wrath. I (we) be- lieve y when ye fullness of time was come God sent forth his only begotten Son to take upon him ye nature of man y so sub- sisting in 2 distinct natures (divine & human in one Person) he might be a fit Mediator between God & man suitably qualified to Redeem man by price & power & effectively Reconcile him to God, for which end God appointed (gave permission to) his Son, to be a Prophet, Priest & King to his church, who did in ye days of his flesh execute these offices by obeying ye Law, Revealing ye Gospell & suffering death, & when he had continued under
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ye power of death for a time he arose from ye dead, ascended into heaven & sat down on ye Right hand of God where he now con- tinues to execute ye several offices of a Mediator, Pleading his own merits on ye behalf of ye elect, interceding for em, sending ye Holy Spt to inlighten, convince, effectually call & sanctify those that are given to him, who being innabled to believe in his name to ye justification of their persons shall be openly acquitted, pronounced blessed & invited by ye Supreme judge to take pos- session of ye Kingdom of glory prepared for em, at that day when God shall weigh ye . - both just & unjust, & shall judge ye herets of men by J: Christ who also will condemn all that obey not ye gospel to everlasting punishm' according to ye script- ures of wrath weh I believe to be ye word of God & ye only rule of faith & manners."
G.
The wife of Mr. Ballantine was Mary Gay, niece of the Rev. Ebenezer Gay, who was pastor of the First Church at Hingham for sixty-nine years ; called by Savage, " the honored patri- arch of the New England pulpit of that age." The excellent traits and remarkable talents of Mrs. Ballantine are matters of tradition.
The intellectual gifts of the Gay family have descended to her posterity, some of whom have been lights to the heathen in foreign lands. The interesting work recently published, en- titled, " Midnight Marches through Persia," was written by one of her descendants. A book in our own Sunday-school library, showing how desirable it is to be " shod with peace," was written by another descendant, residing here.
Lydia Gay, a niece of Mrs. Ballantine, rode to Westfield from Dedham on a pillion behind the parson. She came to be an inmate of his family, and married Col. David Mosely, a great- grandson of John Maudesley, one of the " foundation-men." She lived to the age of ninety-four years, a gentle and lovable old lady ; who, as she sat and knit at that remarkable age, enter- tained her great-grandchildren with many reminiscences of Mr. Ballantine's family. To one of them I am indebted for these facts.
The following additional citations from Mr. Ballantine's diary, quoted from in the sermon, are not without interest :
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APPENDIX.
"Jan. 21st, 1764. Attended the funeral of Nath. Pynchon at Springfield, whom I fitted for college. They gave me and my wife a pair of gloves."
This seems to have been his first observation of a custom that has continued to some extent to the present day, at least so far as to provide the officiating clergyman with them.
"Jan. 17, 1768. I preached. Sang twice in the forenoon. The singers stood up in the gallery and sang new tunes. Some disgusted and left the house."
Nearly twenty years before this, according to the church record, " it was proposed that Dr. Watts' version of the Psalms should be used at the administration of the Lord's Supper. No objections." But the new-fangled tunes seem to have caused righteous indignation in those who had courage to express it.
Mr. Ballantine took special pains to record what was unusual, mysterious, or grotesque, as the following entries indicate :
" Went to Granville. In the night the house of Mr. Jonathan Rose took fire and was consumed. Mr. R. was burnt in it, a man 90 years old. All the remains of the body might have been put in a half-peck measure."
" Attended Capt. Clapp's funeral. As they were letting the coffin down, the head string broke ; it fell and broke off the lid and split the head ; it was taken up and mended."
(Query .- Does the last clause refer to the coffin or the head ?)
The following is suggestive of the generous doses of medicine prescribed to patients before the disciples of Hahnemann discoy- ered the efficacy of sugar pellets : Mr. Israel Noble was sick of a fever, and Dr. Pynchon of Springfield having been called, thought the case hopeless, " but prescribed rhubarb, liquorice, cream of tartar and some other smaller matters, together with a decoction of the Cortex (P. bark) and claret wine, pap of wheat bread and rice." Surely, if not hopeless before, it must have been after taking such a remedy ! He goes on to say, showing the prevalence of superstition in that day : " Mr. Noble and wife heard last fall an unusual knocking at the door, which began about daybreak and continued till sunrise. They could hear no voice, nor see any one, though they got up." Perhaps it was an ominous premonition of the Doctor's knock.
.
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APPENDIX.
One more entry is added, illustrative of the generosity of his people, and the sentiment of the times on what is now a subject of practical morality : On the eve of his daughter's wedding, October 16th, 1768, the following articles were sent to the par- sonage, which would be hardly duplicated now, degenerate as the times are :
" Mrs. Parks, 1 gallon of rum. Capt. Mosely, 2 qts. Dea. Shepard, a leg of mutton. . Mrs. Clapp, 1 qt. rum. Thos. Root. 2 qts. of brandy. Matt. Noble, flour and snet. Ensign Noble, some butter. Clark King, pig. Ensign Ingersoll, 2 qts. rum. Mrs. Ashley, a loyn of mutton and butter. Mrs. Kellogg, some cranberries. David Mosely, a pig and 3 fowls. N. Weller, a piece of veal and suet. Ensign Weller, apples. Mrs. Ford, cabbage and potatoes. S. Noble, 2 fowls. D. Root, 2 qts. brandy."
Reference is made in the sermon to two grandsons of Mr. Bal- lantine who entered the ministry. The six children of Henry, who was missionary in India, are now in that country ; one son a minister, another a physician, the three daughters are wives of missionaries-Mrs. Harding, Mrs. Fairbanks, and Mrs. Parks. Two sons of Elisha are ministers. Henry W. is at Bloomfield, N. J., and William Gay is Professor in Ripon College, Wiscon- sin. Henry and Elisha were sons of a physician, but he had a brother, William Gay, who was a clergyman. Thus the ministry has secured representatives from four successive generations of that family.
H.
Through the courtesy of Dr. H. W. Clapp, of this town, I have been allowed to see a copy of the will of one of his remote ancestors, which provides for what was probably the first legacy ever made for the support of the ministry in Westfield. The donor was Capt. Roger Clapp, who was a very remarkable man. From 1665 to 1686 he was the redoubtable commander of the Castle in Boston Harbor, now Fort Independence. He would not permit a soldier to serve under him who was not a professing christian. He died in 1691, at a good old age, leaving in his will the following clause :
"I giue out of my farme at pachasack in westfield fifty acors
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unto the inhabitance of that towne towards the maintenance of . an able minister in that towne with this prowiso : that they paye or cause to be pay two busshels of good wheat unto my dear wife in boston yearly during her naturall life."
I.
Deacon Thomas Noble, of whom mention is made in the ser- mon, was the second of the name in the church. Thomas Noble, Sr., his father, was one of the early settlers of Springfield, reach- ing there in 1653. He moved to Westfield probably in the autumn of 1668, and immediately became prominent in town affairs, serving in various responsible positions. He was for a time constable, and afterward county surveyor. The Hampshire County records indicate that he once got into difficulty for not obeying the stringent laws of the time respecting the observance of Fast Day :
" At a County Corte held at Northampton, March 27th, 1683. Thomas Noble of Westfield being prsented by the Grand jury for Travelling on a day of Humiliation, publiquely appointed by the Gen" Corte, which he owned, pleading his necessity for Comeing home, and yet this Corte Considering said offense, being a grow- ing evil amongst us, many Persons too much disregarding such Extraordinary Dutys & Seasons, have adjudged sd. Noble to pay as a fine to the County treasurer five shillings."
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