USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The history of the First Baptist church of Boston (1665-1899) > Part 14
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May 8. 1727. At a Church meeting : William Snell By his last will & testament having given to ye Church the Remaining part of his Estate when his funeral charges & Debts were paid & his Legacys made good. It was laid before the Church by
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Ellis Callender administrator to ye said Snell Estate and there Re- mained to ye Church forty one Pounds & Some odd Shillings & twelve ounces of Plate & twelve pennyweight which was then Delivered up by him to ye Church. Voted that the twelve ounces of plate should be made into a handsome Cup with his name upon it and as left by him to ye Church in his last will and Testament, But one Spoon be Reserved with his name upon it for ye use of ye Lord's Table. 1
This cup is still in the possession of the church, although it is not now used. The spoon, which is marked "W" Snell 1727," has been put month by month upon the communion table since that date, and has been used by all the pastors of the church, ex- cepting four. His memory has thus remained living in the church which he loved and into which he was baptized in 1695.
In 1727 a spontaneous movement in favor of Bap- tist doctrines sprang up in and around Springfield, Mass. Some members of this church had gone there to live, and became the rallying center of this new activity. An earnest desire was expressed that a Baptist minister should visit them, and a formal let- ter, signed by about thirty persons, was sent to Boston asking that the church would send Mr. Callender to give them further instruction. They say :
Although we are no church, nor members of any church, yet we have formerly looked upon ourselves, at least some of us, to have been members of such church or churches whose faith and practice is to baptize, or rather sprinkle, infants ; but through God's goodness, by searching the Scriptures, and such other helps as we have received from some of your church, have been made sensible that our former practice with relation to baptism
1 " Church Record."
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has been grounded too much upon the traditions of men . . . and understanding that the Church at Boston practises and allows of no other but believers baptism, we the subscribers do there- fore spread our case before the church," & etc.
They declare that they had " never heard a sermon preached by a Baptist."1 This letter of appeal met with a prompt response :
At a Church Meeting July 6. 1727.
The Church having Received a Letter from a Number of serious People at Springfield who Desired to have some Instruc- tion in ye Doctrine of Baptism and at ye Same time Desiring their advice : The Church took their Letter into Consideration & voted upon it that their Elder Elisha Callender should make a visit to y" and at ye Same time voted that Deacon Drowne should accompany him and Brother Sam" Sweetzer & Brother Bound should accompany him also and that such of the Brethren as live in those parts who may Conveniently meet them doe meet them there and appear in the name of ye Church. Brother Still- man & Brother Molton were particularly mentioned & voted by the Church to appear in their behalf. Voted at ye same time that the charges of the journey be defrayed out of the Money which ye Church has lying by them. 2
1727. In the Month of July the Church having Received a Letter from a Number of People at Springfield in we they Desire advice & Direction and a visit from ye Church. It was voted that ye Elder accompanied with three Messengers from ye Church should goe to ym and having been with them some time & preached unto ym & discussed with them, Eleven Persons Desired to be baptized & accordingly were Baptized on ye 23 July. viz :
John Leonard of Springfield Ebenezer Leonard of Springfield
. William Scott of Springfield Abell Leonard of Springfield Jonathan Worthington & his wife of Springfield
2 Backus, "Hist.,"' Vol. I., p. 513.
1 " Church Record."
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Victory Sykes Living at Suffield Thomas Lamb of Springfield John Bullin Living at Brimfield Richard Gardner of Springfield Mercy Lawton Living at Suffield. 1
This visit to Springfield greatly stirred the oppo- sition of the ministers of the Standing Order, and they sent a letter of protest to Mr. Callender, in which they blame him for not first coming to them, and ob- taining their consent to the visiting of people within their parish boundaries.
"We cannot think," they say, "that preaching to or treating with particular persons in a private manner, to instil into them doctrines that we think are not according to truth and godliness, to be so Christian-like : and we assure you is not what we expected from Mr Callender, whatever we might have feared from some others." 2
This letter did not deter Mr. Callender from visit- ing Springfield in the following year, to encourage and counsel these members of his own flock, for they were now members of this church.
1728 Septr By ye advice & Consent of ye Church, the Elder, ac- companyied with Severall of the Brethren went again to Springfield and upon his journey thither Baptized Hannah Marsh, the wife of Brother Marsh at Sutton and at Springfield on 15 Sepr Baptized Thomas Durgee of Canada In Connecticut Daniel Bloget of Stafford Hannah Kibbee of Infield Sarah Leonard of Springfield Mary Ball of Springfield Submit Monger of Brimfield.3
1 " Church Record." 2 Backus, Vol. I., p. 514.
3 " Church Record."
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It is evident that Baptist doctrines were spreading into the surrounding region, and were receiving by many a very cordial acceptance. This second visit, together with the evident increase in Baptist member- ship and influence, aroused the ministers of Spring- field even more than the first visit. They sent the following letter :
Reverend Sir : Our laboring to wait upon you together on last year, not being well received by some, we shall not now take pains after any such thing ; but take this method to ask you whether you came prepared for and expecting of a public dispute concern- ing the subjects and modes of baptism. We ask your answer by the bearer.
From, Sir, your humble servants,
DANIEL BREWER STEPHEN WILLIAMS SAML HOPKINS. 1
Springfield September 16, 1728
To this letter Mr. Callender made reply :
SPRINGFIELD, September 17, 1728.
Reverend Sir : It is not my custom and manner to go about the country to dispute and debate and wrangle with those that differ from me in opinion. It is well known that I am for peace with all men, and for Christians to live in love and charity, and for every man to act as he is fully persuaded in his own mind. But if you will not be quiet and easy, and will insist upon it that your people must hear what is to be said in opposition to what I think contrary to truth and godliness, you may inform, Sir, your humble servant,
ELISHA CALLENDER. 2
To the Reverend Mr Daniel Brewer.
I do not know what was the outcome of this cor- respondence, but the ministers might well hesitate in
1 Backus, " Hist.," Vol. I., p. 516. 2 Ibid., 514.
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regard to a public discussion, for that meant a wider dissemination of the Baptist teachings. It is known that Baptists continued to increase in numbers in all that region. In August, 1731, Mr. Callender went again to Springfield and baptized nine persons, and at Sutton five persons. In June, 1733, at their request he went again, and baptized ten persons. All these became members of this church, and constituted an outstation. It was not until 1740 that they were gathered and set apart as an independent church. On March 20, 1737, Edward Upham was baptized in Boston and began soon after to preach. He was a graduate of Harvard College in 1734. He was or- dained, October 15, 1740, to be the pastor of the newly organized church at Springfield. In 1749 he became the pastor of the church in Newport, but in 1771 re- turned to Springfield, where he died in 1795. He was heavily taxed for the support of the orthodox churches, and was harassed in other ways, so that the church did not grow to the extent of which it gave an early promise. Elder Callender was abundant in labors at this time, as is evidenced by his visits to many neighboring towns, and baptizing many persons who could not easily come to Boston. The church had representative members in many parts of the commonwealth. Salem, Lynn, Dedham, Billerica, Woburn, Malden, Medfield, Marshfield, Scituate, Hull, Newton, Springfield, Sutton, Leicester, and many other towns were thus represented. The pastor was the center of many activities. His spirit was genial and catholic. He was a cultivated, Christian gentle- man, and was universally admired and beloved. He
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was firm and consistent in his views of truth, and a thorough Baptist. He was wholly tolerant, and not fond of controversy. The church was very prosperous under his faithful care.
" At a Church Meeting Sep' 8. 1728. Voted that our Brother Skinner Russell be desired from that time forward to Set the Psalm in Publick."1 The singing in public worship of that time was wonderful in its variety and lack of harmony. There were no instru- ments of music. The Psalms, distorted into something which was strangely supposed to be meter, were sung. The irregularity of the metre made it impossible to fit any regular tune to a psalm. Sometimes, when the psalm was long, the singing would occupy a half- hour, during which the congregation stood, and each one sang a tune which seenied to have little connec- tion with the tune of any other singer. The result was a singular babel of sounds in which harmony was not the most noticeable feature. The one hundred and thirty-third Psalm furnishes illustration of the irregularity of the metre :
How good and sweet to see i' ts for bretheren to dwell together in unitee ;
Its like oyle that fell the head upon that down did flow the beard unto beard of Aron The skirts of his garment that unto them went down ;
1 " Church Record."
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Like Hermons dews descent Sions mountains upon for there to bee the Lords blessing life aye lasting commandeth hee.
The singers had no notes before them and each one sang pretty much at his own pleasure. It cannot be denied that they enjoyed their own singing and entered into it with peculiar zest. Perhaps the very defiance of all the rules of music gave them a sense of unconstraint, which was the chief element of their delight. "Lining out the psalm " was an effort to get the congregation into something of musical order- liness, but it met with great opposition from those " who loved the old way." The new way seemed an encroachment upon liberty, and the conflict waxed hot in the colony, but the " liners " finally won the day.
The new method was no great improvement over the old. No method could make. psalms mnetred after the fashion of " The Bay Psalmn Book," to be sung well. Lining was an advantage where the books were few. Mr. Skinner Russell was to set the tune, but there is no evidence that this church adopted " lining " at this date, although it did after- ward. Public worship was very simple. Reading the Scriptures to the congregation was not then in vogue.
In 1699 a new church in Boston (the Brattle Street) was organized, because of dissent from the custom of not reading the Scriptures in public worship and the
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requiring a relation of experience as a prerequisite to admission to the Lord's table. Rev. Benjamin Col- man, its pastor, began at once to read the Scriptures, but in the Second Church they were not read until 1729.1 One psalm was sung without instrumental accompaniment, a prayer and the sermon followed. The service would not be overlong even if the serinon were longer than at present. In 1726, Rev. John Comer first introduced singing into the service of the Newport Church.
"July 7. 1740. The Church voted to sing that Version of the Psalms done by Dr. Brady & M' Tate, so long as no objections should be offered against it."2 It is surprising that such a loophole for the objector to enter should have been left open, for the Puritan was a somewhat chronic objector to any inno- vation. It may be that the broad invitation in this vote, for any one to object who desired, was really the safeguard of unanimity in the use of the " Tate & Brady Version." For once the objector seems to have kept silent.
1729 Sep' 7 : The Church Received a small Silver Cup the Legacy of M' John Foreland & his first wife who was a member of the Baptist Church in Boston : marked I F. F. 3
Mrs. Foreland became a member in 1686, but her husband never united with the church. This cup is now in the possession of the church, but is no longer used at communion.
1 Robbins, "Hist. Second Church," p. 180.
2 Comer, " Diary." 3 " Church Record."
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1731 Oct' 8 The Church Received a Letter from a Church at Newport on Rhoad Island Desiring assistance in the Ordination of M" John Callender whom they had chosen to be their minister. Accordingly the Church Sent their Elder & Deacons to assist & that affair was carried on Octor 13. 1731.1
Jolın Callender possessed fine intellectual qualities, which, added to a refined social nature and a devout spirit, made him greatly admired and beloved. He seeins to have much resembled his uncle in character.
May 9. 1732 Deacon Drowne & Brother Landon & Brother Ephraim Craft were appointed a Committee to make more conve- nient place for administering Baptism and so to order it that we may always have the command of water. 1
They doubtless experienced difficulty at low tide, and so arranged for a place which the tides would not so easily disturb. They continued, however, to bap- tize in the inill pond at the rear of the church lot. Baptism in the open air was not abandoned until 1830.
Being sent for to Marshfield I there Baptized on the 20 Oct" 1734 Nathan Sprague Timothy Rogers Jeremiah Crooker John White Jun" Elizabeth Low Mary White. 1
1736 August 1. Samuel Williamson Joanna Williamson Mar- garet Howland were Baptized & added & at ye same time Jere- miah Crooker who had been Baptized at Marshfield were added to ye Church. 1
In the preceding May these and other persons had written a very earnest letter to Elder Callender en- treating him to visit Marshfield again to preach and to baptize,2 but the state of his health, which was already
1 "Church Record."
2 Ford, "Centennial Hist. First Baptist Ch., Marshfield," pp. 6, 7.
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beginning to decline, would not allow of such a visit. Hence those who desired baptism were compelled to visit Boston for that purpose.
It was in these ways that this church reached out to all the region around, and gathering little groups of disciples here and there, held them for the time being in its own membership, while the way was be- ing prepared for establishing them in independent churches.
A Coppy of a Letter Sent to our Bretheren at Sutton, Decem" 1731. Beloved Bretheren. Your Letter we have Received & considered the contents &ec. Considering the Relation between us & the tender Regard we have for you, we would be far from. discouraging you in so good & great a work as you have proposed & shall be glad to hear that true & undefiled Religion flourishes in your parts. But yet we think it our duty to caution you to doe nothing Rashly & to consider well what is before you. It is a great work & we would advise you to sit down & count the cost & to consider you are in the midst of many Enemies who will watch for your halting & will Improve Everything in the worst Sense. But more particularly as to ye first thing you mention that it is your unanimous Desire to be Embodied in a Church We should have been glad you had tarried till you had been more in number. But if you have Covenanted together we wish you In- crease & the Presence of Christ to be with you and as to the Second particular, That you may have an Elder ordained among you, we heartily wish you had a Suitable person Settled among you one that might goe in & out before you. But we fear you are not Ripe Enough nor yet in a capacity to doe your duty on all accounts to Such an one & Thirdly that you have chosen Brother Marsh to the office of an Elder. To this we must needs say we think you have been too Rash. Not that we have aught against our Brother Marsh for he has a very good Report of them that are without & we Esteem him in love, but if you had chosen any other Person from among you we should have thought the same. The Scrip- ture sais lay hands Suddenly upon no man, & it is the Custom &
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Practise of the Churches of our Denomination to have some proof & triall of Gifts & qualifications of those who are called to office & it is but Reasonable & we think it would have been very proper we should have some knowledge of the accomplishments of such a person before you called him, and to be sure before we proceed to advise & to assist in his settlement. We believe it is a day of Temptation with you, & we are afraid you have been too hasty in the whole affair, however at this distance we are not so Capable of forming a true Judgment as if we were better acquainted with your circumstances. We beg that you would not be troubled nor discouraged that we have spoken so freely to you & that you would consider the difficulties of the Season together with what we have mentioned to you & wait awhile & see how Providence will work for you. We are informed that our General Assembly are about Passing an Act this session in favour of the Baptists which will prevent the officers from Spoiling and abusing you as they have done some others & we hope it will be no Reall damage if you defer what you have Proposed a little longer :
Signed by order & in behalf of ye Church. 1
I have quoted the whole of this letter because it exhibits the wise, kind, and courteous spirit of Elder Callender, who composed it, and also because of its historic interest. This plain but fraternal advice ac- complished its purpose, and the brethren decided to make haste slowly in forming a new organization. There was at this time, living at Sutton, quite a large group of members of this church, and preaching was maintained.
At a Church Meeting Aug 3 1735. The Church Considering the Letter & Desire from the Bretheren at Sutton & Leister to be Dismissed that they may gather into a particular Church & finding their Reasons to be Weighty Did Unanimously grant them a Dismission. 1
1 " Church Record."
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The members who had been baptized by Mr. Cal- lender in his visits there were Benjamin Marsh and Hannah his wife, John Bound and wife, William Ven- ing, Jonathan Marsh, Joseph Wakefield and wife Mary, Sarah Davis, Joseph White, Thomas Green, Abigail Green, Judith Gitchell, Jonathan Newell, Elizabethı Richardson. Elder John Comer also bap- tized several persons who became members of the new church.1
Acts for the exemption of Baptists from taxation for the support of the ministers of the Standing Order, and for the erection of their meeting-houses, were passed with great reluctance by the Massachu- setts Assembly, and they were so worded as to prove inoperative. No redress could be obtained under them. The hope which Mr. Callender expresses in his letter proved fallacious. The tyranny of Governor Andros greatly shook the Puritan power and ascend- ency. He had established worship according to the Book of Common Prayer in the Old South meeting- house. He threatened that "public worship in the Congregational way should not be tolerated," if the factious opposition to him did not cease. His down- fall gave them temporary relief. The new royal charter of 1691, bestowed on the Massachusetts Col- ony, was liberal enough in its provisions to protect both Episcopalians and Baptists, but in defiance of it the Assembly in 1692 passed an Act :
That every minister being a person of good conversation, able, learned and orthodox, that shall be chosen by the major part of the inhabitants of any town . . . shall be the minister of such
1 Backus, "Hist.," Vol. II., p. 29.
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town ; and the whole town shall be obliged to pay towards his settlement and maintenance, each man his several proportion thereof. 1
Boston would not submit to this law, and in 1693 was exempted by legislative enactment. The rest of the Commonwealth came under the tyranny of this law. There was distress everywhere on account of the exactions of the officers, and the annoyances and sufferings which ensued constitute a dark chapter in the history of that time. The narration of it does not pertain to the history of this church, which hap- pily suffered only through its sympathies with its sis- ter churches.
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In 1728 there was passed an act exempting Baptists and Quakers from the odious tax, during a period of five years, in so far as their polls but not their estates were concerned. But even then the officers contrived ways of harassing dissenters. In this and subsequent acts no penalty was attached for official disobedience of the law, and the officers in many towns still per- sisted in collecting the taxes, and in the sale of prop- erty seized for taxes, where Baptists refused to pay. Again the Boston jail began to receive Baptists from the country, who were arrested for failure to pay a tax from which the law exempted them. The ad- ministration of justice was wholly in the hands of those who were hostile to dissent. This church could not remain an unmoved spectator of the suffer- ings of its brethren, and its pastors were among the most outspoken in protest, and in efforts to gain re- dress. They visited and comforted their brethren in
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1 Ford, "New England Struggles," p. 149.
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Boston jail. They petitioned the General Court. They constantly appealed to the consciences, the sense of justice, and the love of liberty of their fellow-citi- zens.
The church had grown so steadily under the useful ministry of Mr. Callender that in the summer of 1737 it was found necessary to enlarge the meeting-house. This was done. New pews were added, and the seat- ing capacity was largely increased. The prospects of the church were very bright. Religion throughout the colony was indeed at a low ebb, and a spirit of worldliness had possessed the churches, but in this church there were continued additions of those who manifested a vital godliness. In the midst of these encouraging prospects a great grief suddenly fell upon the church.
Jan 29 1733. Our worthy and Reverend M' Elisha Callender continued a serving faithfull Preacher of Christ to the 29 of Jan. 1733, being the Lords Day, preached his 2 last Sermons from the Second Psalm 12 the last Clase Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. Sometime before he propounded three persons for baptism but his Indisposicion came so fast on him he was not able to administer the ordinance to them, and writes thus to brother Thomas Russell, "my Indisposicion of Body is Such and I am under such methods of cure as unfitts me altogether to attend the ordinance of Baptism to them. I am Heartily Conserned it is so with me, but there is no Resisting the Divine providence."
His Illness Increased, but his Faith & Patience continued to admiration and as he had Denied himselfe for Christ's sake and Preached him faithfully and followed him fully so by grace he was Inabled to Declare that he had got the victory over Death and the grave, gave much good advice to his friends, Executed his last will with seriousness and a composed frame of mind. Being asked what word of advice he had for the church, said, away with all
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Lukewarmness, a-way with it. Live in love that the God of Love and peace may be with you. Improve your time for your Standing in the Church will be short and that is the way to pre- pare for the Inheritance of the Saints in LIGHT, and att 5 of the clock in the morning of March the 31st he said I shall now sleep in Jesus and that moment Died, very much lamented by all that knew him and was Desently intered on the tuesday next being the 4 day of April 1738.1
He was about fifty years of age and had been the beloved pastor for twenty years. One of the Boston papers of the time has the following notice :
On Friday morning last, after a lingering sickness, deceased the Rev Mr Elisha Callender, Minister of the Baptist Church in this town : a gentleman universally beloved, by people of all persua- sions, for his charitable and catholic way of thinking. His life was unspotted and his conversation always affable, religious, and truly manly. During his long illness, he was remarkably patient and, in his last hours (like the blessed above) pacific and entirely serene : his senses good to the last.2
The records of the church contain a list of the brethren who subscribed one hundred and twelve pounds " towards Defraying the Charge of our Dear Deceased Pastors Funerall," and what moneys are left are to be paid to the minister's family. The funeral was evidently a State occasion and was par- ticipated in by many. The olden times do not seem to have been better than the modern in the matter of expensive funerals, and it is probable that the minis- ter's family did not receive a large residue of the money. Mr. Callender's death was a severe blow to the church, from which it did not really recover until almost thirty years had passed.
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