USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > The church of the Pilgrim Fathers > Part 10
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There must have been, however, considerable display at funerals. In December, 1765, a town meeting at Plym- outh was called through petition by Dr. Laza LeBaron and others in order to address a letter to the people of Boston thanking them for their efforts to prevent certain goods being imported from England and sold. This para- graph is incorporated:
The new regulation with regard to mourning which has not only saved this Country great and needless expence and in a manner abolished a ridiculous pageantry, but produced con- sequences in our Mother Country very beneficial to us, and all principally at your expenses, as your merchants were the principal importers and venders of those articles, a measure
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which, at the same time that it reflects a luster upon your conduct, shews by the success of it that the people of this country have vertue enough to prefer its interest to any fashon that may stand in competition with it however.
There is a record of the town purchasing a burying cloth. At a town meeting held at Plymouth May 9, 1737:
"At sd meeting voted that there be a burying cloth pro- cured by the Town at the sd Town charge. That Major James Warren shall procure a decent burying cloth of black broadcloth not exceeding five pounds per yard."
At the March meeting of the Town 1738/39.
"Voated that there be something more don about the burying cloth, there being thrity pounds already raised and there be a burying cloath procured by Coll James Warren and he to be paid out of the Town Treasury for what he shall expend."
But again in 1740 the same question, and at a Town meeting "It was ordered that a buying of a new Pall or Burying Cloath be continued to the next Town Meeting."
A diligent search of the town records does not disclose that the town ever purchased a burying cloth. If it was procured it was probably through private funds, but the records give sufficient proof that burying cloths were in use and probably included with funeral rings (black enamel edged with gold) and gloves given to the bearers and pastor (one of whom received twenty-nine hundred and forty) . Such were some of the articles of needless expense. The pastor mentioned who received such a quantity of gloves added to his salary by the sale of them.
But to return to the sexton - the last elected by the town that did perform all the duties of a sexton was chosen
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SOME HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE FIRST CHURCH
in 1831; he did conduct funerals, bury the dead, ring the bells, and take care of the Town House (the churches of the town had at this time each their own sexton) . After the management of funerals had been taken up by private morticians, he continued to care for the Town House and ring the town bell until his death in 1885. He is well re- membered by many, who have heard of his duties from the generations that preceded them.
He himself stated that he had buried thirty-two hundred and fifty persons. The writer knew him as an aged man who walked with difficulty up the grade of Town Square to the meetinghouse to ring the bell. He was a confirmed believer in the doctrines of Spiritualism. He did not in- trude his belief on others but found comfort himself in this belief. He came often from his house on Spring Hill across the street to a market, and there his belief was often assailed by men who thought themselves so wise they would deny Mr. Bates the comfort of his own belief. One day I heard this conversation. The question was asked of Mr. Bates, "How can you believe such nonsense? Don't you know that these mediums make the knocks with their ankle joints?" And the old gentleman's reply,
"Did you ever consider what a great comfort it must be to Mrs. Bates and I sitting alone deceiving ourselves with our ankle joints?" To this there was no answer. He may have heard messages from the other shore from those for whom he had sounded the passing bell, and the story of the sexton ends with the passing of the last man who faithfully performed all the duties of that office. "Clement Bates - Chosen 1831 - Service Ended 1885."
The sexton of Plymouth rang, yes, still rings, the bell at
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7 A.M., 12 Noon, 1 P.M. and at 6 P.M. when the sun sets at 6 or after, excepting Saturday night when it is rung at 5 P.M.
Many times I have heard old residents of the town say "the days are lengthening fast, it is most time for the 6 o'clock bell." When men worked as they used to work from early morning until ten minutes after sunset they quit work when darkness compelled. Then as the hours of labor were reduced the 6 o'clock bell became necessary. It is the belief of the writer, this belief based on conversa- tion he heard as a boy, that the ringing of the bell at 5 o'clock on Saturday night was due to agitation by mechan- ics of the town, beginning with the building trades. They secured an affirmative vote in town meeting as well as the placing of an article to this effect in the Town Warrant. Some of the mills in the town never accepted this law and continued for many years to run until 6 o'clock.
This vote probably never had even a shadow of legality, but being generally accepted by the town, it was better enforced than a Constitutional Amendment not popular. It was the beginning of early closing on Saturday.
The 6 o'clock bell rung after the sun set at and after 6 P.M. did more than indicate the hour for stopping work. At the ringing of the 6 o'clock bell the herrings began to appear in Town Brook and the organ grinder appeared in town with the old-fashioned organ carried on his back, not mounted on wheels, and drawn or pushed along the streets.
The last bell of the day, the 9 o'clock bell, was instituted on Sept. 16, 1714: "Voated in sd Town meeting that the Selectmen doe chose and bargaine with a sexton to give him not exceeding six pounds per anum to sweep and
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SOME HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE FIRST CHURCH
take care of ye meeting house and to ring the bell by usuall and also at nine of ye clock at night continually."
And at town meeting held at Plymouth August 29, 1715, "at sd meeting the Town voated to raise ye sums of money by rate.
Item to the Sexton for ringing the bell - 3 pounds.
Item for ringing the 9 o'clock bell 3 pounds."
This marks the beginning of the 9 o'clock bell, once observed in spirit and in practice. In fact our grand- mothers anticipated the sound of the bell and when out to tea and spending the evening with some of their cousins would remark, "Well I must be going home," and with a glance at the old clock, "it's most time for the 9 o'clock bell." Once rung and observed, now it is rung only to perpetuate an old custom. Once the young and old went home, now at 9 o'clock both old and young start out to "go places." Let's keep it ringing as the town voted in 1714 continually, and do not call it the Curfew because it's not. It's the 9 o'clock bell; so did the old inhabitants of the town name it.
From the tower of the church the old Paul Revere bell sounded the call to worship, the summons to labor, and the hours to cease work until November 22, 1892, when the church was destroyed by fire. The 9 o'clock bell ordered by the Town in 1714 was not sounded by the sex- ton that night. As the tower of the church crumbled in the flames and the bell struck the ground it gave out an agonizing gong. A gentleman looking at his watch said, "It's just 9 o'clock."
The bell though broken had not been lost to the town.
At the adjourned meeting of the Town April 3, 1893. Article 16 of the Warrant being taken up. On motion of Mr.
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Charles S. Davis. Voted that the Selectmen be authorized to have the Town Bell recast and make such arrangements as they deem for the best interests of the Town to have it hung in the new Unitarian Church.
The old Paul Revere bell, weighing over one thousand pounds, was raised in the new tower in October 1896. May it continue to ring as the town fathers voted, and "at nine of ye clock at night continually."
Suggested Reading List
"Plymouth Church Records 1620-1859" in Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, XXVI & XXVII (Boston: Colonial Society of Mass., 1920), 844 pp. with an intro. by Arthur Lord.
Lord, Arthur, Plymouth and the Pilgrims (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1920) , 178 pp.
Burgess, Walter H., The Pastor of the Pilgrims: A Biography of John Robinson, American edition (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920) , 426 pp.
Cuckson, John, The First Church in Plymouth, Tercentenary edition (Boston: The Beacon Press, 1920) , 117 pp.
Willison, George F., Saints and Strangers (New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1945) , 512 pp.
Bradford's History of Plimouth Plantation from the original manuscript published by the Commonwealth of Mass., office of the Sec'y of State (1928) , 555 pp.
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A Note about the Authors
JOHN CUCKSON served as minister of the First Church in Plymouth from 1901 to 1910. In his long and notable career in the liberal religious fellowship, he also served as minister of the Arlington Street Church (Boston) , the Church of the Unity (Springfield, Massachusetts) , and other churches.
FLOYD J. TAYLOR, minister of the First Church in Plym- outh from 1940 to 1945, had previously served Unitarian churches in Chelmsford and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. He is now minister of the Unitarian church in Lexington, Massachusetts.
J. ELLSWORTH KALAS has taught at the Central Bible Institute (Springfield, Missouri) and served for six months as national religious director of the Greek War Relief Associa- tion.
HENRY W. ROYAL has for twenty-five years been secretary of the Pilgrim Society, curator of Pilgrim Hall, and clerk of the First Parish in Plymouth.
ARTHUR LORD, a well-known Boston lawyer, was an out- standing citizen of Plymouth and historian of the Pilgrims. Between 1874 and 1925 - the year of his death - he served as moderator of the town meeting more than fifty times. He was president of the Massachusetts Historical Society and of the Pilgrim Society. His Colver Lectures at Brown University on "Plymouth and the Pilgrims" were definitive in the field.
GEORGE N. MARSHALL became minister of the First Parish in Plymouth in January, 1946. He is a member of the Pil- grim Society and the Unitarian Historical Society, as well as
138
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A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHORS
being active in many religious groups. His articles have ap- peared in several magazines, including The Christian Leader, The New England Unitarian, The Journal of Liberal Re- ligion, and The Christian Register.
ARTHUR B. WHITNEY was minister of the First Church from 1911 to 1921. Later he served the Unitarian churches in Leominster and Quincy, Massachusetts - the latter being known as "The Church of Presidents."
ALFRED RODMAN HUSSEY was for fifty-two years a Uni- tarian minister and for many years literary editor of The Christian Register. After twenty-five years of service to the First Church in Plymouth, he preached his last sermon on June 23, 1946. This final testimony is included here.
FRED A. JENKS was a long-time Plymouth resident who did much research among the old records. His historical notes given here are transcribed from a manuscript he presented to the First Parish in Plymouth.
Index
Account of the Plymouth Church, 31-32
Adams, James Truslow, 26
Ainsworth, Henry, 14
Ainsworth Psalm-Book, 79
America, xvii, 22, 25, 27, 39, 49, 67, 82, 84,89,98,102
Amsterdam, 13, 14, 33, 50. See also Holland, Separatists, Ainsworth, Johnson
Architects. See Brimmer, Church, Hartwell
Arminians, 27, 51, 73
Apostles' Creed, 108 Austerfield, 9, 48, 93
Ball, George S., 65 Bay Psalm-Book, 79
Bells, church, 130 ff. See also Chimes, Revere
Bradford, 8, 9, 11, 47, 83, 87, 112. See also Plimouth Plantation
Bradford, Clarence D., 97
Brewster, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 32, 47, 48, 53,87,112 Briggs, George W., 65, 76 Brimmer, George W., 65, 127 Brownists, 29. See also Separatists, Puritans, Johnson
Cabot, Edward C., 91 Calvin, John, 5, 18, 28, 83 Calvinism, xix, 21, 27, 54, 63, 106 Cape Cod, 37, 38 Carlyle, 107 Carver, John, 16, 43, 87 Chandler, F. W., 91 Channing, 106 Chauncy, Charles, 60, 78
Chimes, 98
Christianity, early centuries of, 5, 19,83-84
Christmas, Plymouth, 80
Church of England, xviii, 4, 10, 22, 34, 36, 48. See also Episcopalians Church, Richard, 115
Civil liberty, 39, 96
Clyfton, Richard, 11, 12, 15, 84, 112 Communion service, 97. See also Revere Communism, 44, 45, 103
Congregationalist. See Puritans, Cal- vinism, Third Congregational So- ciety Coolidge, Calvin, 33
Cotton, John: history written by, 31- 32,47
Cotton, John, Jr., 61
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 21. See also Robinson Covenanters of Scotland, 10 Covenants of Pilgrims, 29, 56-57, 93. See also Pilgrim Fathers, faith of Cuckson, John, 97 Cushman, Thomas, 58
Delftshaven, 27, 37, 95, 96 De Rasières, Isaac, 59 Duxbury, 65, 73
Eastham, 65 Edwards, Jonathan, 72 Elders of Pilgrim church, 58, 94 Emerson, xix, 106 England, 3, 9, 16, 17, 21, 34, 49, 52 Episcopalians, 75, 76. See also Church of England
.141
142
INDEX
Farewell sermon, xix, 22, 28-29, 55, 83,96
First Church, xx, 53-54, 57, 66, 67, 72, 73 ff., 87-88; records of, 46, 47, 48, 73, 76,77, 125-128
Fourth Church, 76
Freedom, religious, 17-18, 25, 32, 35, 83, 89, 96. See also Tolerance
Fuller, Samuel, xviii, 16, 113
Gainsborough, 9, 14, 84 God, Pilgrim faith in, 7 Gordon, George A., 80 Grimsby, 13
Hackley, Mrs. Caleb Brewster, 95 Hale, Edward Everett, 90, 92 Half-way Covenant, 72 Hall, Edward H., 65, 70 Hartwell, Richardson, and Driver, 92
Harvard College, 60, 64 Henry VIII, 3, 11
Heresy, xix, 4, 12, 14, 18, 100 ff.
Higginson, Francis, xviii, 31, 50, 113 Holland, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 26, 35, 49, 51,53,84 Hudson River, 37
Huguenots of France, 10
Hull, 13 Hussey, Alfred R., 95, 100
Jesus, teachings of, 8 Johnson, Francis, 14
Kendall, James, 64, 70, 73-76, 97, 101 Kendall Hall, 97 Kingston, 65
Knapp, Frederick N., 65 Knox, 5
Lambeth Palace, 3 Leonard, Nathaniel, 62, 63, 126
Leyden, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 27, 33, 35, 50, 51, 54; faculty of University of, 15, 35, 51
Liberal movement, xviii, xix, 16-17,
21, 23, 33, 55, 71, 75, 80-84, 87, 89, 100 ff.
Liberty. See Civil liberty, freedom
Little, Ephraim, 62
Lombard, Charles P., 65
Lord, Arthur, 21, 33, 89, 97
Lowell, James R., 109
Luther, 5, 28, 83
Lyford, John, 60, 82. See also Trial by jury
Manomet, 65
Marshall, George N., 70, 95
Marshfield, 65, 73
Masefield, John, 102, 108
Massachusetts Bay Colony, xviii, xx, 50, 71. See also Plymouth, Puri- tans, Separatists
Massachusetts Historical Society, 47 Massasoit, 41, 42, 43
Mayflower, 37, 40, 53, 87, 93, 96, 112 Mayflower Compact, 30, 38, 82, 96, 97, 102 Mead, Edwin D., 87
Melancthon, 5
Memorial church, 67, 92
Merchant Adventurers of London, 17,36 Milton, John, 18
Minister, settlement of, 64
Ministers of First Church, 94-95
Morton, Nathaniel, 43, 46
Myrick, Henry L., 65
Netherlands. See Holland New England Society, 96 Norman architecture, 90
Oldham, 82. See also Trial by jury Osgood, Edmund, 65
Papacy. See Vatican Parker, 106
Pilgrim Fathers: faith of, 6, 16-17, 18, 31 ff., 54, 55, 84-85, 100-110; persecution of, 7, 12, 14, 49, 82 Plimouth Plantation, Of, 46, 70, 83. See also Bradford
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INDEX
Plymouth Colony, 17, 21, 31, 40, 59, 71, 84, 85, 93 Plymouth Rock, 40, 45, 58, 70 Plymouth town: records of, 114-125 Plympton, 65 Pope Clement VII, 3 Printing press, 51, 82
Protestantism, 3, 67. See also Pil- grim Fathers, Puritans, Reforma- tion, Sects, Separatists
Psalm-Book. See Ainsworth Psalm- Book, Bay Psalm-Book Puritans: English, 26, 34, 47, 48, 49; of Massachusetts, xviii, xix, 26, 30, 71, 112, 114
Quakers, 31, 71, 102
Rayner, John, 59, 60-61, 78 Reed, Mrs. Sarah Brewster, 97 Reformation, 4, 9, 28, 83, 92 Renaissance architecture, 90, 92 Revere, Paul, 97, 98, 135, 136 Revolution, American, 70 Robbins, Chandler, 47, 63, 70, 74 Robinson, John, 8, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20- 32, 51, 83, 84, 112
Salem, Mass., xviii, 31, 60 Samoset, 41 Science, modern, 7, 83 Scriptures, 4, 18, 33 Scrooby, 9, 10, 11, 26, 48, 84, 93, 112 Sects, Protestant, 8, 9, 25, 101, 105 Separation of church and state, 25, 30, 114, 123, 125 Separatists, xviii, 14, 17, 27, 30 Sextons, 130 ff. Shrine function, 98-99 Smith, Ralph, 59 Smyth, John, 9 Speedwell, 37, 53
Sperry, Edward P., 96 Squanto, 41 Standish, Myles, 42
Taylor, Floyd J., 20, 70, 95 Taylor, Jeremy, 18
Teacher, Pilgrim church, 78 Thanksgiving, 99
Third Church in Plymouth (1744- 83) , 65. See also Half-way Cove- nant Third Congregational Society (1801) , 65, 73-75, 76 Thurber, Elizabeth, 97 Tiffany, 96 Tolerance, religious, 22, 24, 25, 26, 71,81,84 Trial by jury, first, 82 Trinity, 76, 108
Unitarian, 76, 77, 84, 85, 89, 97, 100- 110. See also First Church, Liberal movement, Pilgrim faith, Separa- tists Universalist, 76, 77, 97, 100 Utopia, 17-18
Van Paassen, Pierre, 103 Vatican, 3, 4 Virginia, 36
Walker, Edward G., 96 Whitfield revival, 72 Williams, Roger, xix, 26, 60, 68, 72, 78, 79 Willison, George F., 71 Winslow, 8, 21-22, 28, 32, 42, 53, 87 Winthrop, 79 Whitney, Arthur B., 70, 98
Yale College, 63
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