USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Princeton > The history of Princeton, Worcester county, Mass. from its first settlement; with a sketch of the present religious controversy in that place. Designed for the use of the inhabitants > Part 13
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The Rev. TIMOTHY FULLER, the first minister of Princeton, was born at Middleton, originally part of Salem, in this state, in 1738. His ancestors emigrated from England to this coun- try in 1628, and their descendants still retain possession of lands in Middleton, which have continued in unbroken suc- cession in the family from that date to this. He entered, at the age of nineteen, the University at Cambridge, where he graduated, with the customary honors, in 1760. He then commenced his theological studies, and having received the usual license to preach, appeared as a candidate for settlement in Princeton in 1765, where he supplied the pulpit at inter- vals for two years, the district being at that time probably unable to support a settled clergyman. In March, 1767, he received from the church and town a nearly unanimous in- vitation to become their minister, and having accepted it, was ordained on the 9th of September following. In 1770 he married Sarah Williams, the daughter of the Rev. Abraham Williams , the minister of Sandwich, in this state.
Of Mr. Fuller's ministry at Princeton we have already spo- ken in another place. It seems to have been quite as suc- cessful as that of most ministers of that date, until 1774, when, from causes already made known, the harmony between him and his people was interrupted. How good grounds there were for this, I have attempted as far as possible to ascertain. It is not improbable, that in the revolutionary enthusiasm which pervaded his people in common with those of the whole country, and in the ardor of action which burned around him, Mr. Fuller's coolness and deliberation alone may have been construed into disaffection to the righteous cause of his coun- try. This was at once sufficient to conjure up all the sins of omission and commission, which, in the fastidious judgement of some of their parishioners, in a long course of years few ministers are exempt from, and which, in ordinary circum- stances pass unheeded by, and to transform them, in the phrensy of the moment, to grievances of the deepest die. In the ex- citement of the time Mr. Fuller's opponents, some of them, per- haps, instigated by feelings of private malice, were incapable
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of doing him justice. Their action, as detailed in the previous pages, was such as no judicious man could approve. The excited revolutionary feeling every where prevalent is its best apology .*
One of the earliest causes of dissatisfaction to his people, arose from a sermon, preached at the request of his parish, to the " minute men," enlisted for the defence of the commonwealth. Mr. Fuller on that occasion, took for his text,-" Let not him that girdeth on the harness boast himself as he that putteth it off." The sermon was one of warning and caution, and the zealous " sons of liberty" construed it to be a designed discouragement to the revolutionary cause. Mr. Fuller's true views were expressed in his sermon ; he always declared, dur- ing the latter part of his life, as he did at the time of the struggle, that he was friendly to the principles of the revolu- tion, and anxiously desired that success should crown the ef- forts of his countrymen ; but he was naturally cautious, and accustomed to act with great coolness and deliberation, and he considered the struggle with the mother country as very hazard- ous, if not a hopeless one. He believed that we were not prepared for it, and that prudence and true wisdom would dic- tate a longer delay.
Owing to these difficulties, Mr. Fuller was dismissed in 1776. He removed, soon after, to Martha's Vineyard, and preached to the society in Chilmark until the war was ended. He then removed to Middleton, where, in 1782, he commenc- ed a suit against the town, which, in the following year, was decided in their favor. After this he returned to Princeton, where he devoted himself to the cultivation of a farm, and for several years appears quite conspicuous in the affairs of the town-a circumstance indicating an oblivion of all former difficulties. Indeed, soon after his return to Princeton, all those who had been most opposed to him, became reconciled, and were, in a few years, warmly attached to him, and ranked amongst his most intimate friends. In 1788, he represented them in the convention which approved and adopted the pres-
* Says an old lady, conversant with all the particulars of this controversy, to the author on one occasion, " Mr. Fuller told the town they would nev- er be prospered in their minister for their treatment to him ;" and, continues she, in a mournful faith in the inflictions of retributive justice, " they nev- er have been ;"-a fact, to whatever source attributable, few, in reading their history, will be inclined to dispute.
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ent federal Constitution-Hon. Moses Gill, afterwards Lieut. Governor, being the opposing candidate-and gave his vote against that instrument, on the ground of its recognition of slavery-a fact evincing at this period, at least, an uncompro- mising advocacy of the rights of man. In 1796 he removed to Merrimac, N. H. where he continued to reside, employed in agricultural pursuits, until his death in July, 1805, at the age of sixty-seven.
The Rev. THOMAS CRAFTS, the successor of Mr. Fuller in the ministry at Princeton, was the son of Dr. John S. Crafts of Newton, who removed to North-Bridgewater, soon after the birth of his son, and where the youth of the latter was spent. In 1779 he entered the University at Cambridge, where he graduated in 1783, and entered immediately upon his theological studies. At the completion of them in 1786, he appeared as a candidate for settlement at Princeton, and received and accepted an invitation from the church and town to become their pastor. He was ordained on the 28th of June of the same year, and continued minister of the town for five years. During the latter part of this period, his health declin- ed so rapidly as to render it impossible for him to perform the duties of his office, and obliged him to ask a dismission. This was reluctantly granted in March, 1791. Soon after this, he removed to Bridgewater, in which place and Weymouth he resided for eleven years, preaching in vacant parishes as his health would allow. In 1802, having regained his health, he was settled over a church and society in Middleborough, in the county of Bristol, known as the "Middleborough and Taun- ton Precinct," where he continued a faithful and devoted preacher of the gospel, and in the most perfect harmony with the people of his charge, until his death, January 19, 1819, at the age of sixty. About the time of his settlement at Princeton he married a daughter of the Rev. John Porter, the first minister of North-Bridgewater. His widow is still living, and resides with her children in that place. Of the affection and esteem in which Mr. Crafts was held by the people of Princeton, in many of whom the recollection of him is still vivid, I have spoken elsewhere.
The Rev. JOSEPH RUSSELL, the third minister of Prince- ton, received and accepted from the church and town an invi- tation to settle over them on the 7th of December, 1795, and was ordained March 16, 1796. He continued their minister
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until 1801, when he asked a dismission. This led to some slight controversy between him and the town, which has been detailed in another place. His request was however granted ; soon after which he removed to Troy, New-York, where he entered at once into mercantile pursuits, and where he still resides a wealthy and high-minded merchant, and a pious, consistent Christian.
The Rev. JAMES MURDOCK, D. D. the fourth minister of Princeton, was born at Saybrook, Connecticut, February 16, 1776, and educated at Yale College, where he graduated in 1797. While in college he ranked among the first scholars of his class, and particularly in mathematics and the learned lan- guages he had no superior. He then became a preceptor, first, in the public grammar-school at New-Haven, and afterwards, in Hamilton Oneida Academy, in both of which he acquitted himself with honor. In January, 1801, he was licensed to preach, by the Oneida association, and in the autumn of that year President Dwight recommended him to the people of Princeton, as a fit man to be their pastor. They accordingly applied to him to preach among them, and after hearing him several weeks, the church and parish gave him an almost unanimous call, which he accepted, and was ordained in June, 1802. Besides the duties of a pastor, Dr. Murdock gave private instruction to a considerable number of young men of Princeton and the vicinity, some of whom he fitted for entering college, others for a counting-house, and a large number for teachers of district schools. In the year 1810-11, there was a revival of religion under his ministry, of which an account is given in the Panoplist for June, 1811, pp. 11-16. As fruits of this revival, between thirty and forty new mem- bers were added to the church. That period is still remem- bered by many as one of peculiar interest.
In the summer of 1815, Dr. Murdock was chosen pro- fessor of the learned languages in the University of Vermont, at Burlington, and notwithstanding the harmony which had always existed between him and his people, and the prospect of his future usefulness among them, an ecclesiastical council decided that it was his duty to accept the appointment in the university. At Burlington he not only performed the duties of his own department, but also supplied, for some time, the department of mathematics and natural philosophy. His rep- utation was now such, that the trustees of Dartmouth college
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invited him to the professorship of Latin and Greek in that institution, made vacant by the removal of Dr. Moore to the presidency of Williams college ; this appointment, however, was not accepted by him.
In the winter of 1819, Moses Brown, Esq. of Newburyport, founded his professorship of Sacred Rhetoric and Ecclesias- tical History, in the Theological Seminary at Andover, and by the recommendation of professors Woods and Stuart, he appointed Dr. Murdock the first professor on his foundation. When informed of this appointment and solicited to accept it, he very much hesitated ; partly from a dislike of the form of the new professorship, and the kind of labors it would impose upon him, and partly from his attachment to the institution with which he was then connected. By the urgent persuasion, however, of Dr. Woods, he was induced to accept, resigned his office at Burlington, removed to Andover, and was install- ed in June, 1819. The August following, the University of Cambridge conferred on him the honorary degree of D. D. But difficulties soon arose between him and his colleagues, which continued, year after year, and finally produced his re- moval from office in October, 1828. Dr. Murdock then re- moved to New-Haven, where he has since resided, devoting himself to his favourite pursuit, ecclesiastical history.
Besides publishing some occasional discourses, one of which on the nature of the Atonement, printed at Andover in 1823, produced much sensation, Dr. Murdock is best known to the public by his elements of Dogmatic History, translated from the German of Professor Wm. Muenscher of Marpurg ; 1 vol. 12mo. New-Haven, 1830. And by his new translations of Dr. Mosheim's well known Institute of Ecclesiastical History, with copious notes, original and selected, in three large vol- umes, 8vo. New-Haven, 1832. This last work is now a classic in most of the Theological Institutions in the country. At the present time Dr. Murdock is understood to be engaged in writing a continuation of Mosheim's history, or a general church history, from the year 1700 to the presents time-a labor of vast difficulty, especially in this country, where so few good libraries can be found, since most of the facts lie dis- persed in innumerable books and records, and have not been collected in any single publication.
The Rev. SAMUEL CLARKE, the successor of Dr. Murdock in the ministry at Princeton, was born at New-Boston, N. H.
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on the 21st of April, 1791. Until his fifteenth year Mr. Clarke was engaged in agricultural pursuits, although he re- marks, in a letter to the author, " from the age of six it was my unwavering determination to devote my life to the Chris- tian ministry." He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1812, at the age of twenty-one, and immediately commenced his professional studies under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Channing of Boston. In 1815 he began preaching, and a short time subsequently appeared as a candidate for settle- ment in Princeton. In 1816, August 26, Mr. Clarke re- ceived a call from the town, by a vote of 102 to 44, to settle with them as the successor of Dr. Murdock, from whom he was understood; however, to differ in some supposed essential points of religious faith. Owing to the non-concurrence of the church, and the unhappy divisions which have been narrated under another head, he declined complying with the request of the town. Possessed of those mild and amiable virtues, which adorn the Christian minister, while they render him extreme- ly averse to the bustling scenes of controversy, it is not sur- prising that Mr. Clarke negatived this call. Yet the qualities which prompted his refusal were precisely those which en- deared him still more to the people, who, unwilling to relinquish their hold upon their favorite candidate, renewed their request in October of the same year, with an additional pecuniary encouragement, a majority of the church still non-concurring, and a second negative answer was returned. In January, of the following year, a petition, addressed to the selectmen, re- questing them to call a town meeting, for the purpose of again renewing the call to Mr. Clarke, was circulated, and signed by 105 legal voters. On the 11th of February the meeting was held, and the call renewed. As the church still refused concurrence, the whole matter, as before stated, was referred to an ecclesiastical council. The result of this body we have already given.
Mr Clarke was ordained as minister of Princeton on the 18th of June, 1817. A majority of the church of course se- ceded, "not," to use their own language in a previous com- munication to Mr. Clarke, " through any disaffection to your person, nor any deficiency in your abilities, or any fault we find in your moral character." The reasons which actuated them were two, which they regarded as " of primary consid- eration." The validity of the first of these is a question which
16
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still divides the religious community ; the second, if honestly entertained, all must acknowledge to be of great force. " The ' first is," say the church, " because we cannot consent to give up our rights and privileges, and sanction the irregularity of receiving a minister, in whose call and settlement we have not a primary and distinct choice." "The other reason," they continue, after laboring to establish the soundness of the first, "why we cannot consent to receive you as our minister, is, because we are not satisfied with the doctrines which you have preached, and which, it is presumed, you will continue to preach, should you be settled here."
' Mr. Clarke continued to preach at Princeton for fifteen years. That he was placed in a somewhat trying and per- plexing situation, by the divisions that grew out of his settle- ment, is certain. Yet, of a mild and amiable disposition, un- compromisingly devoted to his principles, and possessing talents of no ordinary class, perhaps no man could have gone through the fiery ordeal of bitter religious animosities with greater success, or was better qualified to discharge the responsibilities which his peculiar position created. Certainly no one could have done it with less offence to both friends and foes.
In 1832, owing to continued ill health, which the bleak winters of Princeton were little calculated to improve, Mr. Clarke felt it his duty to ask a dismission from the society in this place. His request having been reluctantly granted by his people, on the 17th of June, of the same year, the day which concluded fifteen years of his ministry, he preached his farewell sermon. Immediately on leaving Princeton he re- ceived a call to settle over the First Congregational Society in Uxbridge, and was installed January 9th, 1833. Mr. Clarke still contiues to preach in Uxbridge, to the general sat- isfaction of his parish.
The Rev. ALONZO PHILLIPS, the sixth minister settled in Princeton, was born at Bradford, Mass. September 1st, 1788. He was the son of Capt. Timothy Phillips, a revolutionary patriot of that place, with whom he lived during his minority, employed in agricultural or mechanical pursuits. At the age of twenty he commenced his studies with the design of enter- ing the ministry. With these views he began his preparatory studies, at the Academy in Bradford, in 1808 or 1809, at the completion of which he entered the college at Middlebury, Vt. in the fall of 1811, or the spring of 1812, and graduated in
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1815. Soon after graduating from this seminary, he com- menced his theological course in the Institution at Andover, and was licensed to preach in 1818. In 1820 he appeared before the Presbyterian Society in Princeton, as a candidate for settlement, and on the same year received and accepted an invitation from them to become their minister. He was or- dained June, 1820. From the time of his settlement, nearly to that of his dismission, a period of sixteen years, he enjoyed the unshaken confidence of his church, to which large additions were made under his ministry. He continued to preach at Princeton until 1836, when he was dismissed. The causes which led to this, and the circumstances attending it, have already been narrated. Soon after his dismissal, he removed with his family to Newburyport, where he still resides.
The Rev. APPLETON MORSE, the seventh minister, and the first of the Baptist persuasion, settled in the town, was born at Hopkinton, March 7th, 1805. He completed his studies, pre- paratory to a collegiate course at the High-School in Westboro', and entered the Freshman class of Brown University in June, 1824. During his sophomore year, however, ill health obliged him to leave the University and suspend for a time his stud- ies. On his recovery he did not resume his course at the University, but entered, in September, 1827, upon the regular theological course at the Institution at Newton, where he graduated in the fall of 1830. In September of the same year, he received and accepted an invitation from the Baptist Church in Princeton to become their pastor. His ordination took place in the October following. He continued in this relation for a year and a half, when, at his own request, he received a dismission, and soon after became pastor of the Bap- tist Society in Fitchburg, where he still resides.
The Rev. JOHN P. COWLES, the successor of Mr. Clarke, was born at Colebrook, Litchfield county, Conn. on the 21st of January, 1805. His school education previous to preparing for college was such as is usual in the district schools of his native state. His preparation for college was made entirely at home, without the facilities of academical instruction, under the occasional private tuition of Dr. Emerson, now of the Andover Theological Institution. At the age of eighteen he entered Yale College, where he graduated with high honors in 1826. Soon after, he commenced a theological course in
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the same Institution, which he completed in four years, spend- ing in the interim one year in other employments. After spending another year in New-Haven, in somewhat miscella- neous studies and pursuits, he commenced, and, in 1833, ac- cepted an invitation to settle at Princeton. He was ordained July 19th, 1833, and continued his ministerial labors until October, 1834, when he asked and received a dismission. In February, 1836, Mr. Cowles accepted the appointment of Professor of Hebrew Literature and the History of the Jewish Church, in the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, at Oberlin, Lorain county, Ohio, and, having signified his acceptance of the office, entered at once upon its duties. This is his present location. The Institution with which Mr. Cowles is connected is of a most decidedly religious character, designed to impart a thorough Christian education to its numerous students. It has a female and a preparatory department connected with it. The right of free discussion and anti-slavery are the charac- teristic principles of its managers and officers.
Rev. NEHEMIAH G. LOVELL, the second Baptist minister in Princeton, was born August 2d, 1806, at Rowley, Mass. where his father, a Baptist clergyman, now settled at Fall River, then resided. In 1810 his father removed to Bridge- water, where Mr. Lovell spent most of his time previous to entering college. In 1821 he entered upon mechanical em- ployments, which he continued, with little interruption, until the spring of 1826, when he commenced the study of the Latin language, with the design of pursuing a collegiate course. After three months' application, sickness compelled him to suspend his studies until the next spring. In 1829 he entered Brown University, and, on the 4th of July, 1830, united with the First Baptist Church in Providence, from which he received, in August, 1833, a license to preach 'the gospel. In September, of the same year, he graduated from the university, and entered immediately on his theological course at Newton, which, however, the weakness of his eyes obliged him to abandon after two months' study. In the March following, he commenced preaching at Princeton, with the intention, however, of resuming his studies at a future day. Soon after, receiving an invitation from the church to become their pastor, he finally accepted it, and was ordained on the 10th of July, 1834. Mr. Lovell continued his rela-
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tion to the church until November, 1836, when, at his request, having been dismissed, he became pastor of the Baptist church in Amherst, where he still continues his labors.
The Rev. ELIJAH DEMOND, the present minister of the United Church and Society, received his collegiate education at Dartmouth College, Hanover, N. H. where he graduated in 1816. He pursued his theological studies at Andover, where he completed them, and commenced preaching in 1820. He was installed as pastor of the Congregational Church and Society, in Princeton, October 26, 1836, and receives their cheerful support as an esteemed, faithful, and efficient minister.
Of the various individuals, whose history is interwoven with that of the town, few stand more conspicuous, both from the important offices which he filled as well as his constant gen- erosity, than Hon. MOSES GILL. Mr. Gill was born at Charlestown, Mass. in 1733. His early education was that of the common schools of the time. In early life he entered into mercantile pursuits, and, for a long course of years, main- tained the honorable character of an upright and liberal mer- chant. In 1759 he married Miss Sarah Prince, the only surviving daughter of the Rev. Dr. Prince, then pastor of the Old South Church, from whom he inherited a large portion of his land at Princeton. About the year 1767 Mr. Gill re- tired from business, and commenced residing at Princeton, during a portion of the time, and immediately became con- spicuous in the affairs of the town. Among other instances of his generosity at this period, was a Bible, presented to the the church under Mr. Fuller, which is mentioned as introduc- tory to the following letter, illustrative of the peculiar state of feeling in many of our country parishes at that time.
Boston, December 9, 1769.
Rev. and Dear Sir,-You may remember sometime in the summer past, you mentioned to me your desire that I would present you with a large Bible, that the Scriptures might be publicly read every Lord's day. I be- lieve my answer was : I was afraid it would have a tendency to make you shorten your other services ; however, upon my return home in the summer I spoke to a stationer for a large folio Bible, which is now come ; but I have "one difficulty in my mind against sending it up ; that is, I have observed in some country places they are not fond in general of having the Scriptures read in public, because their time is taken up in that part of service that may as well be performed at home ; though I don't know that this is the case with you, as I never changed a word with any one of your people about this matter. Now, sir, if I should send it up,-you should introduce it,- your people generally dissatisfied,-it would perhaps make such a breach
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between you and them, as may never be fully healed ; and if I should be the means of it, I could never forgive myself, nor make amends to you ; though I am clear of an opinion that the Scriptures ought to be publicly read every Lord's day, as one part of the religious exercises. These are the difficulties that lay in my mind; how far they have any weight in them, you can judge.
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