USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Milton > The history of Milton, Mass., 1640 to 1877 > Part 26
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 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
"' In his duty prompt at every call; He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all.'"
" FRANCESCA."
THE END OF HIS LONG MINISTRY.
Mr. Thacher continued to meet all the requisitions of his office, and to perform the varied duties devolved upon him, even in the advanced period of life to which he was spared.
253
MINISTERS OF MILTON.
On the tenth of the month which was the Sabbath, he preached both parts of the day, performed the domestic sacrifices with the repetition of the ser- mons in the evening. Upon which, finding himself weary, he said, " We read in a certain place, ' The prayers of David are ended : ' what if it should now be said, the prayers of Peter are ended !" It fell out accordingly. On the day following, a fever seized him, and the next Sabbath ended with him in his everlasting rest.1
Recovering out of a short cloud upon the clear use of reason he called for his domestics, and for a staff to lean upon. So sitting up, he blessed each of them and made a most pathetic and audible prayer with them and for them. And then lying down his last words were the words of a conqueror and more than a conqueror, " I am going to Christ in glory." Thus his purified spirit flew away to the chambers of a Redeemer waiting to be gracious.2
FUNERAL.
Judge Samuel Sewall gives the following account of the funeral of Mr. Thacher : -
Lord's Day Dec. 17, 1727. I was surprised to hear Mr. Thacher of Mil- ton, my old friend, prayed for as dangerously sick, next day I was informed by Mr. Gerrish that my dear friend died last night, which I doubt bodes ill to Milton and the Province, his dying at this time, though in the seventy-
1 Mather.
2 The following obituary notice, written by a Milton citizen, appeared in the " Boston Weekly Journal," Dec. 23, 1727 : -
" About midnight after the last Lord's Day deceased here the Rev. Peter Thacher, M.A., the first settled minister of this church and town, in the forty-seventh ycar of his pastorate, and seventy-seventh of his age. He was a son of the Rev. Mr. Thomas Thacher, the first pastor of the South Church in Boston. His mother was daughter to the Rev. Mr. Ralph Patridge, of Duxbury. He was born at Salem in 1651. Was a pious, prayerful youth, and in his early days he met with a very great deliverance. Falling down before the open flood-gate of a water-mill a going, he was drawn into the sluice and carried thro' between the pads of the wheel, without being hurt.
"He took his first degree at Cambridge in 1671, and we suppose his 2d in 1674, being in the same classes with the present Honorable Judge Sewall. After which he was chosen and for some years served as a fellow and tutor at the College.
" As for his character. - He was a person of eminent sanctity, of a most courteous and complaisant behavior ; cheerful, affable, humble and free of speech to the meanest he met with. He had a great deal of vivacity in his natural genius : which, being tempered with grace and wisdom, appeared very engaging both in his common converse and public per- formances.
" In his ordinary conversation there was a vein of picty, agreeably mingled with enter- taining turns and passages, an air of freedom and cheerfulness, that made it very easy and pleasant in every company.
" He was a very Evangelical preacher, delighted in commending Christ to his hearcrs, and was always earnestly endeavouring to win us over to admire and love him. He was a zealous asserter of the purity and liberty of our Evangelical churches. He accounted that only to be pure religion which is purely scriptural. And in no other form of church order could he see the liberty of the people preserved as in that of his country.
" He was greatly concerned for this noble interest, the chief design of our excellent fathers hitler : tho' he was full of Catholic pity and charity for those of other opinions, and he was much improved in Ecclesiastical councils.
" It was his constant prayer that he might not outlive his usefulness ; and God was pleased very graciously to hear him, his vigour and intellectural abilities remaining fresh to the last. The Lord's day before he died he preached both parts of the day ; and in the after- noon from Luke 14 : 22. ' Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.' And he was never known to be more enlarged, fervent, lively and affectionate than in this his farewell to his dear people.
"On the Monday he was seized with a fainting. He was thirty-six hours a dying, tho' without much pain; and his last words were, ' I am going to Christ in glory.'"
254
HISTORY OF MILTON.
seventh year of his age. Deus revertat omen! This day after the fast, he was interred. Bearers. - Rev. Nehemiah Walker, Mr. Joseph Baxter, Mr. John Swift, Mr Samuel Hunt, Mr. Joseph Sewell, Mr. Thomas Prince. I was inclined before, and having a pair of gloves sent me, I determined to go to the funeral if the weather proved favorable, which it did, and I hired Blake's coach with four horses. My son, Mr. Cooper and Mr. Prince went with me, - refreshed them with meat and drink, got thither at half past one. I rode in my coach to the burying-place, not being able to get nearer by reason of the many horses. Mr. Walter prayed before the corpse was carried out. Had gloves and ring given me. Mr. Miller of the Church of England was there. At this funeral I heard of the death of my good friend, Capt. Nat. Niles.
I have now been at the funerals of four of my classmates.
WORKS.
1. Artillery Election Sermon, 1695.
2. Unbelief Detected and Condemned, etc., 1708.
3. The Al-sufficient Physician, preached before His Excel- lency, the Governor, the Honorable Council, and Representatives of the Massachusetts Bay, May 30, 1711, from the text Isa. 57: 18.
4. Christ's Forgiveness of True Christians, 1712.
5. Perpetual Covenant, a sermon to young men, 1713.
6. Funeral Sermon on the Rev. Samuel Man, Wrentham, 1720.
7. A Divine Riddle, 1722.
8. Sermon at the Anniversary Convention of Ministers met in Boston, May 27, 1724.
THE TAYLOR FAMILY.
Thomas Taylor was born in Wales, where he was long settled as a clergyman.
His son Richard came to New England, engaged in trade at Boston, and died there in 1673. At his decease he bequeathed legacies to the Old Brick and Old South churches.
By his wife Mary he had one son, John, born the 2d and baptized the 6th of February, 1647. John married Ann Winslow, grand-daughter of Edward Hutchinson, and daughter of Edward Winslow. He died at Jamaica. She died in Milton, 1773, aged 95 years.
In 1769, when she was in the ninety-second year of her age, she related the following historical facts respecting her family to her grandson, Winslow Taylor, son of William Taylor and Faith (Winslow), which have been copied verbatim from his own manuscript by Elizabeth Cheever Taylor Robbins, of West Medway, and kindly furnished for insertion here.1
1 Memorials of my progenitors, taken by Winslow Taylor, as related by my grand- mother, Madam Ann Winslow, September, 1769.
255
MINISTERS OF MILTON.
Ann Winslow was born the 7th of August, and was baptized the 8th of December, 1578. This was the year before Mary Chilton Winslow died, and fifty-eight years after the landing at Plymouth. Elizabeth Hutchinson, Ann's mother, was born in 1639. She was forty years contemporary with Mary Chilton, was her daughter-in-law for several years, and had the best opportunity to learn the truth of this statement.
The testimony of Ann seems, therefore, sufficient to place it beyond question.
REV. JOHN TAYLOR.
Rev. John Taylor, son of John and Ann (Winslow), born 1704, graduated at Harvard College 1721, being the classmate of Chief-Justice Stephen Sewall, as Peter Thacher was class- mate of Chief-Justice Samuel Sewall fifty years before. He died at Milton, Jan. 26, 1749.
Mary Chilton was the first European female that landed on the North American sliore. She eame over with her father and mother and other adventurers to this new settlement. One thing worthy of notiee is that her euriosity was so great of being the first on the shore, that she was prompted like a young heroine to leap from the boat and wade ashore.
John Winslow, another early adventurer, married the said Mary Chilton, from whom have deseended a numerous and respectable posterity. My grandmother, now living and who affords me these memoirs, is their last surviving grand-ehild, in the ninety-second year of her age.
Edward Winslow remained in England. His sons who came over to New England were Edward, John, Kenelin, Gilbert, and Josiah. Edward Winslow, the son of John and Mary, was my grandmother Anu's father. The maiden name of my grandmother's grandmother was Catherine Hanly, of Old England. She died in New England.
My grandmother's grandfather was Edward Hutchinson. He was killed by the Indians at Brookfield Aug. 2, 1675.
My great grandmother Winslow, the wife of Edward Winslow, was Elizabeth Huteh- inson. She died, aged 89. Edward Winslow's first wife was Mary Hilton, by whom were John, Sarah and Mary. Edward Winslow's second wife was Elizabeth Hutchinson, by whom were Edward, Catherine, Susannah, Elizabeth, and Ann.
Thomas Taylor was born in the middle of Wales. He was a minister there. Richard, his son, eame over to New England and died here. He left no other ehild than John Taylor, my grandfather. Mr. Richard Taylor having sustained a good eharaeter through life, was lamented in deatlı. He bequeathed two handsome legaeies to the Old Brick and the Old South ehurelies in Boston.
John Taylor, my grandfather, the son of the said Richard, died at Jamaica.
My grandfather, John Taylor, married my grandmother, Ann Winslow, the youngest daughter of Edward, by whom was John Taylor, afterwards minister at Milton. He died in Milton, aged 45 years, lamented as a gentleman, seholar and Christian. Elizabeth, William (my father), Rebeeea and Naney were born in Jamaica.
Kenelin Winslow, one of the first adventurers, brother of Edward and John, had Nathaniel, and Nathaniel had Kenelin (my grandfather). He married Abigail Water- man, by whom were Sarah, Abigail, Nathaniel, Faith, Kenelin and Joseplı.
My grandmother Taylor, whose maiden name was Ann Winslow, after the death of her first husband, married Kenelin Winslow the son of Nathaniel.
William Taylor (my father), the son of John and Ann, married Faith, my mother, the daughter of Kenelin and Abigail, by whom was William, John, Abigail , Elizabeth, Winslow, Joseph and Joshua. He, William, afterwards married the widow of Abijali Savage, whose maiden name was Sarah Cheever, the daughter of Elizabeth Cheever, of Charlestown, by whom he had only William and Thomas ; the latter was born in Milton, Sep. Ist, 1768.
[Copied by Elizabeth Cheever Taylor Robbins.]
256
HISTORY OF MILTON.
He married, first, April 9, 1730, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Nathaniel Rogers, of Portsmouth, N.H., by whom he had John, born June 15, 1731; Ann, born July 16, 1732; Nathaniel, born March 4, 1733; and William, born April 8, 1735. She died in 1735.
He married a second time, Dorothy (Sherburne) (Rymes) (Rogers), widow of his first wife's brother; she survived her husband, and married a fourth time, Hon. Peter Gilman, of Exeter, N.H.
His children by his second wife were Dorothy and Ann Sher- burne, also Edward Sherburne, baptized July 23, 1747.
His daughter Ann married Nicholas Gilman, of Exeter, N.H., in 1752, and became the mother of the Hon. John Taylor Gil- man, for many years the worthy and patriotic governor of New Hampshire, and the ancestor of a long line of descendants, hon- ored and distinguished in the annals of our neighboring State and of our country.
He was ordained pastor of the church in Milton Nov. 13, 1728. Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, of Boston, preached the sermon.
The controversy respecting the location of a new meeting- house, which had for years disturbed the church and town, had terminated. A new church edifice had been erected on Canton avenue, in front of the present Unitarian Church. Its size was fifty feet by forty, and twenty-eight feet high, with a belfry, in which the town voted to place " a bel " weighing three and one half cwt. " grose."
The town voted that Mr. Taylor have the first choice of a place to build a pew for the ministry in the new meeting-house, and that his pew be built by the town.
Here Mr. Taylor commenced his ministry of twenty-one years.
The following sketch of his character is from Dr. Chauncy, his classmate and intimate friend : -
He and I were playmates when little boys, went to school together, were classmates at college, and all along till his death in close friendship and acquaintance with each other.
He was an agreeable companion, and a friend that might be depended upon. His diffidence of himself and moderation of temper restrained him from preaching much from home, and produced in him a settled determina- tion that nothing of his should appear in the world.
Upon his dying, he left his papers with me, with a positive charge that I should take the first opportunity after his death to commit them to the flames ; which I did.
He had a clear head, and his sentiments and expressions were rather soft and persuasive, than strong and nervous. Few men were more uni- versally loved while they lived, and lamented when dead.
257
MINISTERS OF MILTON.
Rev. Thomas Thacher speaks of him " as remarkable for his high rank in the republic of letters, for his uniform virtues, and elegant social manners."
He entered upon his work here at the age of twenty-five and died at the age of forty-six, filling the pastoral office for twenty- one years.
The following touching entry is found in the records of the church : -
The Rev. Mr. John Taylor, after above twenty years of eminent service in the ministerial office in the town of Milton, died on the twenty-sixth of January, 1750.
Blessed and forever happy are they which die in the Lord, as well as those who die for the Lord.
During his ministry he came into possession of a tract of land near the meeting-house, either by purchase, or, as some suppose, to clear up arrearages of salary, and erected a house, which stood where our Town Hall now stands; here he lived and died. This house was occupied by descendants of his family until it was burned, Sept. 22, 1864. A portion of the land is now the property of the town of Milton, embracing the site of the Town Hall and other buildings of the town.
The remaining portion of the land is owned by the following individuals, and is occupied by their residences, - Rev. Calvin G. Hill, Mr. Joseph O. Osgood, Rev. William P. Tilden, Mr. George T. Tilden, and Dr. John Littlefield.
REV. NATHANIEL ROBBINS.
Nathaniel Robbins was the second of the seven sons of Thomas Robbins, of West Cambridge, where he was born April 17, 1726. Here he passed his youth and fitted for college. He graduated at Harvard in the class of 1747, and completed his theological studies at Cambridge, under the direction of Rev. Samuel Cooke of his native parish.
On the 13th of February, 1751, Nathaniel Robbins, in the twenty-fourth year of his age, was ordained pastor of the Milton church, and died among the people of his first and only charge, May 19, 1795, aged sixty-nine years, after a pastorate of forty- five years.
Rev. Thomas Thacher thus characterizes his preaching : -
He refused to call any man master, or to sacrifice truth to prevailing opinions, however conducive to popularity, to consideration and conse- quence. Such candor and liberal sentiments were the more deserving of
258
HISTORY OF MILTON.
praise, since in the first periods of his ministry such a spirit and temper were not common. His stability preserved this church from those divisions and separations arising from the fumes of enthusiasm and a fanatic spirit which in those days too much prevailed and ruined some of the most respectable Christian societies of the land.
His manner of preaching was plain and pathetic; he appeared to have a dislike to a florid style, to false ornaments, and to affectations of literature.
In 1752 he purchased of the heirs of Anthony Gulliver the estate on Canton avenue, now owned by Col. H. S. Russell, and soon after built the house now standing near the street ; here he lived and carried on his great and good work through the tumultuous period of the Revolution. Wisdom character- ized his actions. His words soothed the despondencies and troubles, and allayed the passions, of the times; his counsel settled differences of policy and feeling.
A settlement of £1,000, old tenor, equal to $500, and all annual salary of £500 or $250, with twenty-five cords of wood per annum, were voted him by the town.
His dwelling was the abode of patriotism, hospitality, kind- ness, and Christian charity. Residing on a much-frequented country road, over which passed all the travel between Taun- ton and the intervening towns and Boston, his house was the resort of many from neighboring towns seeking advice and encouragement.
The warm-hearted pastor of Milton welcomed all, and sent them away with a benediction.
In 1775 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Hutch- inson of Boston, brother of Gov. Thomas Hutchinson's father. Her father for many years was Judge of Probate for Suffolk County, and Treasurer of Harvard College from 1726 until his death in 1752.
Mr. Robbins had two sons and one daughter. The daughter died August 31, 1786, unmarried, at the age of twenty-seven years. His youngest son, Nathaniel Johnson, was a graduate of Harvard College in 1784, and died May 7, 1799, aged thirty-three. The wife of Mr. Robbins died May 2, 1793, aged sixty-two.
Edward Hutchinson Robbins, his eldest son, was a lawyer of much eminence. He was born at Milton, at the minister's house, on Canton avenue, February 19, 1758; graduated at Har- vard in 1775, when eighteen years of age; lived in Milton through a long life of active service in the town and in the Commonwealth; and died December 29, 1829. A record of his life-work is given under " Lawyers of Milton."
Rev. Mr. Robbins was eminently faithful in meeting all pastoral duties. He acquainted himself with the condition of
259
MINISTERS OF MILTON.
his people; became interested in all their interests, temporal and spiritual. The sick found in him a ministering spirit, the afflicted a comforter, the poor a ready and sympathizing helper. His house was the home of his parishioners, and there they loved to gather.
The following incident shows the happy relation existing between the pastor and the youth of his charge; it is copied from the original manuscript without change : -
Econimy & Industry hath so impressed the minds of the Country Young Ladies that it hath not only become the Fashion to Cloath themselves in their own Manufactory, but they are Ambitious that their Ministers should set the Laudable Example.
For that Purpose there was a Specimen of which Elegantly displayed on May the 18th 1769. At the Rev. Mr. Nathaniel Robbins in Milton, where there was a Number assembled befour the Sun had shed around its Radiant Beams & at 7 oclock there was Seventy five Wheels agoing & in all Eighty Three ; they spent the day chearful & diligent, and retired from their de- lightful Employment as the Sun retired from the Horizon, very decent & pretty, and what was Spun and presented made Four hundred & Sixty Skains Excluding Tow.
About half of them Spun their Yarn at the Rate of 140 Knots to the pound which was done incomparably well as Sixty Weight of the Flax was of Mr. Robbins own Raising.
But what gave a Luster to their Brilliant appearance was to see so many Pretty Misses chiefly equiped in the Attire of their own make, which made them cut a most Beautiful Figure, and to View their Dexterity and the ex- act Order in which their Wheels were ranged made a grand Show and a very gay Appearance, which even charmed the Spectators and merited from them large Enconiums, and their Noble Performances entitled them to Singular Honours in which every one expressed his highest satisfaction.
Such Industrious Females are a public Benefit and ought to be Encour- aged since in a great Measure it depends upon the Frugality of the fair Sex to save a decaying state, which by due Encouragement in a little tine will be a Rival of any of the European Spinners.
Such fair Damsels cant but merit Applause, Which are so zealous in so good a cause, From every Gentleman that doth desire, That his Country might live and not expire, Which are so ready and willing to do, To save a Sinking state and the Young men too. So much chear the Heart in this day of Distress, To see their Industry and Sprightfulness. How pleasing to hear, but more so to see, How the Daughters & Sons of Freedom agree.1
1 About this time associations under the title of " Sons of Liberty " were formed all over the country, to oppose the unjust and arbitrary measures of the British government. They ineluded both sexes. The members denied themselves the use of all foreign articles of elothing ; carding, spinning, and weaving became the daily employment of women of fashion ; sheep were forbidden to be used as food, lest there should not be found a suffi- eient supply of wool. To be dressed in a suit of homespun was a surc passport to popular favor.
260
HISTORY OF MILTON.
Mr. Robbins was appointed by the town of Milton to attend the convention which adopted the Federal Constitution, 1788. He was an active and ardent worker in the Revolutionary struggle. Two of his brothers were in Capt. Parker's Com- pany at Lexington, on the 19th of April.
In the later years of his ministry the present Unitarian meet- ing-house was built. At a town meeting, Oct. 3, 1785, it was voted to build a new meeting-house, sixty-six by fifty-two. The house was completed three years after the first action of the town, and was dedicated Jan. 1, 1788, costing $5,600.
For this important occasion Mr. Robbins was presented with a new horse-hair wig and a black gown. The house stood lengthwise toward Canton avenue, the front facing southerly. At a later period it was placed in its present position, and otherwise improved. Thus the meeting-house has an antiquity of one hundred years.
In the new church Mr. Robbins passed the last eight years of his life, departing to his rest on the 19th of May, 1795. " Like as a shock of corn cometh in his season."
1 Mr. Robbins preached every Sabbath in Jan. Feb. and March, and also on a day of Thanksgiving, Feb. 19th.
The last time he preached was April 2, 1795, on a Fast Day, his text was Ps. 51, 17 - " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and con- trite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
After this Fast day there was no meeting for three Sabbaths. April 26th. Mr. Cotton preached. May 3rd. Mr. Thomas Thacher of Dedham. May 10th. Mr. Withington. On Tuesday the 19th. of May, Mr. Robbins died.
The funeral was from the meeting-house. Mr. Jackson made a prayer. Mr. Haven of Dedham preached from Rev. 14: 15 :-
And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me - write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them.
Mr. Thomas Thacher made the closing prayer.
On the following Sabbath, May 24, Mr. Thacher of Dedham preached from John, 14: & 11: 35.
This sermon was printed and can be found in a volume of Milton Documents in our Public Library.
REV. JOSEPH MCKEAN.
After the lapse of two years and six months Mr. Joseph McKean, of Boston, was ordained, Nov. 1, 1797. Several clergy- men had been heard as candidates, among whom was the Rev. Dr. Pierce, afterwards the revered and honored pastor at Brook- line for half a century. So great was the attachment to Dr.
1 Hannah Vose's Diary.
261
MINISTERS OF MILTON.
Pierce that the church extended to him an unanimous call for settlement; but the parish refused to conform, it is said, for political reasons.
Mr. McKean was born in Ipswich, in the eventful year of 1776. His father soon after moved to Boston, where Josepd entered the public schools. At the age of eleven he was placeh with Dr. Pemberton at Andover, who prepared him for college.
He entered Harvard College in 1790, where he took high rank as a scholar, particularly in mathematics, and graduated in 1794. He engaged for three years as teacher in Berwick and Ipswich academies, at the same time pursuing study, with the ministry in view, under Dr. Joseph Dana, of Ipswich, and Dr. John Elliot, of Boston. He was licensed by the Boston Asso- ciation, and soon after was invited to supply the Milton pulpit, made vacant by the death of Mr. Robbins.
The natural brightness of his character, blended with a bold and impassioned eloquence, drew around him many friends and admirers. He was solicited to become pastor of the Milton church, and, after long hesitation and many fears, he was pre- vailed upon to accept. He assumed the charge of this church before he had reached the age of twenty-two years.1 Rev. Mr. Elliot of Boston preached the ordination sermon from the text, 2 Peter i. 5: " To virtue, knowledge."
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.