USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > The history of the First Baptist church of Boston (1665-1899) > Part 17
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SECOND MEETING-HOUSE. 1771-1829.
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In 1737 a committee was appointed "for Enlarging our Meeting house & Seting up a Number of Pews for the accommodation of Such Persons as desire them," 1 but what was the extent of this enlargement is unknown.
Lord's Day Decr 8 1771 M' Stillman took an affectionate Leave . of the Rev D' Pemberton's Church & Congregation, from 2 Cor. 13 : 11. Finally Brethren, Farewell : Be of good Comfort : be of one Mind, be perfect, live in Peace, & ye God of Love & Peace shall be with you. He publickly thanked them in ye Name & Behalf of our Church & Congregation for their Kindness & Christian Conduct towards us for 6 Months : in all which Time the two Societies maintained a happy Union & Friendship : & parted with Affection. 1
Lords Day Dec" 22 1771. This Day our new Meeting house was opened, When the Minister preached the first Sermon from Ezra. 5. 11 We are the Servants of the God of Heaven & Earth, & build the House which was builded there many Years ago. In the Afternoon he preached from Hag. 2. 7. I will fill this House with Glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. The House was crowded & a Collection made to help defray the Expense of build- ing it, which amounted to £130 old.Tenor. 1
The " Pew Proprietors' Book " has a more detailed account :
The new Meeting House being Rebuilt & Compleated in about six months, The Society met in it for the first time, and it was now Consecrated, the Exercises of the day were introduced by singing an Anthem taken out of the 122 Psalm, a suitable dis- course was made by our Revª Pastor, from these words in Ezra 5. II We are the Servants of the God of Heaven & Earth & Build the House that was Builded there many Years ago, the Service of the Fore part of the Day was concluded with a Second Anthem taken out of 29 Psalm, in the afternoon was another Ser-
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mon Preach'd by our Pastor from II Haggai & VIII verse, And I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord of Hosts : They were well Improved to the occasion & the service of the Day Ended by an Anthem taken out of the 104 Psalm and the Singing was well Performed both parts of the day by a select number who favoured the Society with their performance which Gave great satisfaction to a Crowded Audience.
The Proprietors evidently felt a sense of relief that the singing was satisfactory and was not of the usual distressful kind. Previous to the opening of this house the church agreed to use Dr. Watts' Psalms and Hymns in place of the version of Tate and Brady. It is easy to believe that the smooth inetres of Dr. Watts' Hymns made singing in public worship a more delightful exercise. The phrase, "The Proprietors of Pews of the First Baptist Meeting House in Boston," occurs for the first time in the records of Dec. 1, 1771, in connection with this house now rebuilt.
The year following the opening brought many tokens of refreshing from the Lord. Baptismns were nummerous, congregations were large, and the church prospered. The following records throw light on the circumstances of the times :
August 2. 1772. Patrick Connelly, who had been baptized some Months before, but was called away to Sea before Commun- ion Day, was received into ye Chh. 1
Dr. Stillman was very popular among sailors, and whenever they were in port it was the particular pleasure of many of them to be among his listeners. It was no unusual thing for him to address them spe- cifically in the midst of his sermon, and appeal to
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them in some homely illustration taken from their peculiar calling and which had in it the flavor of the sea. Many sailors referred their conversion to these impassioned appeals so specially directed to them.
"Nov" I. 1772. After divine Service Hannah Dun- more & Cloe, a Negro Woman belonging to M' George Green of Boston were recd into the church."1 Our records have many notices of baptisms and marriages among Negro people, and until early in the present century there was a large group of them in this church. In 1804 Dr. Stillman ordained the first Negro Baptist minister in Boston, the Rev. Thomas Paul, pastor of the First African Church, in Joy Street.
"Sep" 4. 1774 Benj" Foster of Danvers & Student at Yale College recd into the Church, having been baptized a Fortnight before."1 He was the son of Congregational parents in Danvers, and at the age of twenty became a member of Yale College, where he took distinguished rank as a scholar. He obtained his degree in 1774, at about which time some discus- sion having arisen among the students upon the sub- ject of baptism, Mr. Foster was appointed to defend the practice of Pedobaptists. He was their brilliant scholar and champion. In careful preparation for this service, he made extended investigation and study, but to the disappointment of all his friends and to his own surprise, he became convinced of the error of his former views, and avowed himself a Baptist. He was baptized by Dr. Stillman, who also directed his theological studies during the next two years,
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when he was ordained pastor of the Baptist church in Leicester. He was afterward pastor in Newport, R. I., and in New York City, where lie died of yellow fever in 1798. He gained much distinction as a scholar and preacher, and his early death was deeply lamented.
The last entry in the church records for March 22, 1775, is followed by the next in June, 1776. Between these two dates very stirring scenes were witnessed in and around Boston. In March, Dr. Warren made his famous oration in the Old South Meeting-house, in the presence of threatening British officers. In April, the fights at Lexington and Concord took place. In May, the British were besieged in Boston by patriot troops gathered from every quarter. In June, the battle of Bunker Hill was fought. The siege was pressed with determination and almost all of the in- habitants fled. It is thought that not more than one- eighth of the population remained in the town. The British commander seized upon private residences and public buildings at his pleasure. The Old South was turned into a riding school for the cavalry. The Old North was used for firewood. The First Baptist Meeting-house was turned into a barrack for Britishi troops and afterward used as a hospital. The members were scattered widely. Dr. Stillman, one of the fore- inost of the patriot orators, left the town with his family and withdrew to Philadelphia. There his voice was heard at once in fervid advocacy of the pa- triot cause. He was called to preach before the Con- tinental Congress then in session in that town. He remained engaged in useful service until the evacua- tion of Boston, when he returned to his church.
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1776 Lord's Day June 2. This Day our Meeting house was again opened for divine Worship, by our Pastor, who together with the Church, had been in a depressed Condition, More than a year : which melancholy Situation of us as a Society, & of the Town of Boston in general, had been occasioned by the Com- mencement of Hostilities by the British Troops, on the ever mem- orable 19 of April. 1775. The Lord hath chastened us sore, yet hath he not given us over unto Death. Glory be to his holy Name, that he hath again admitted us to return to our own place & the Enjoyment of our religious Privileges. May his holy Hand in Correcting us be properly attended to : & may we have Reason in the end to say, It was good for us that we have been afflicted. 1
The members were impoverished as well as scat- tered. Business was stagnant. The war continued. The meeting-house was in need of renovation and re- pair. The smallpox had been prevalent, and the use of the house as a hospital did not make it more in- viting as a place of worship. The outlook was dis- couraging. Dr. Stillinan's family remained in Phila- delphia, which then seemed farther removed from the center of military operations. But he began at once the work of rehabilitation and the gathering of the scattered flock. It was long before prosperity fully returned.
Sept. 8, 1776, the church sent the pastor and mes- sengers to ordain Mr. Thomas Gair at Medfield. The church there, which had been constituted in the July preceding, was composed largely of members from this church. Mr. Gair, at the age of sixteen, had been baptized by Dr. Stillman in 1771, and was cherished by him as a son. He graduated from Rhode Island College in 1776, and remained the pas-
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tor in Medfield until 1788, when he became the pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Boston. When he was installed in the latter place, Dr. Stillman, for the first time since the rupture between the two churches, officiated in their meeting-house, and the relations ever after were cordial. Mr. Gair was in the midst of a career of great usefulness when he died at the early age of thirty-six.
The church records of this time bear sad testimony to the moral ravages made by the war. There was a general laxness of conduct, and the church was much engrossed by the necessities of constant discipline. Drunkenness is a sin often mentioned, and women as well as men were guilty of it. Neglect of public worship became widespread. Society became seri- ously disorganized. Many foreign vices had been imported and had become domiciled during the dis- tractions of the war. French infidelity became fashionable. French, Hessian, and English soldiers brought with them not only European vices, but also European ideas concerning religion. The soldiers were indeed conquered, but it was not so easy to extirpate the immoral influences which they left be- hind them. It was a time of transition from Puritan strictness to Revolutionary laxity. When the War of Independence closed, the whole country was in a ferment of disorganization preceding the final forms of organized government. It was in the midst of such conditions that the pastor and the few members who had returned to their hoines took up again the work of the church. It required no little heroism for Dr. Stillman to assume the pastorate in 1765 after
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Mr. Condy had brought the church so low, but it re- quired still greater courage to begin over again in 1776 in the midst of these moral desolations. But there was no hesitancy and no delay.
In March, 1777, the church learned that one of its members, John Lassell, "had openly avowed the Doc- trine of universal Salvation in the full sense of that Expression, or as held by one John Murray,"1 and in September he was suspended from fellowship. John Murray, the founder of Universalism in this country, arrived from England in 1770, and soon after began preaching his doctrines, especially in New England. He gathered many followers at Gloucester and Boston, and finally became pastor of the first Universalist . church organized here in 1786. He was a man of much eloquence and power, and drew after him some Baptists. The church
voted to have a contribution on Wednesday next (Dec 30 1778) ye day appointed for a continental thanksgiving for the poor people of Rhode Island who are now in a distressed condition, being driven from their habitations by the British Troops.1
This collection, which amounted to four hundred and sixty dollars, was duly transmitted to the starving people of Rhode Island.
In February, 1779, the church "voted that ye minister in ye name of the Church be desired to propose to M' Skillman that some method shod be fallen upon to unite ye two churches, now too shy of each other,"' and in March it was reported to them :
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That it was agreeable to the sister church under the care of the Revd M' Skillman, that there should be a union between the two churches, & that in case either of the ministers should be sick the members of each church should be invited to the communion of the other : that ye ministers should exchange pulpits as often as they shod think proper, & that the churches shall not interfere with ye discipline of each other.1
This was an official settlement of the difficulty be- tween the First and Second churches, but there does not seem to have been any real fellowship until after the settlement of Mr. Gair in 1788.
In September, 1779, a radical departure from an un- varying custom was made. The brethren only were attendants at church meetings for the transaction of all business. All cases of discipline were managed by them. Women had no voice in any of the busi- ness of the church. But now in a delicate case of discipline of a certain Anne Plympton, a committee of three women was appointed to wait upon her and to report at the next church meeting. This was a marked innovation, but seems to have aroused no dis- sent, and the women performed their duty quite as faithfully and discreetly as the men might have done.
In 1770 Dr. Stillman preached the annual sermon before the Ancient and Honourable Artillery Com- pany in Boston. In 1779 he was appointed by the Legislature to preach the annual election sermon. There was some opposition to him on the ground that he was a Baptist, and one member was so in- tensely opposed that by means of restless agitation he obtained a reconsideration of the appointment. But
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Dr. Stillman's popularity was abundantly demon- strated, for the vote for his appointment was larger the second time than it had been at the first. It was the first time that a Baptist had been invited to preach an election sermon. His sermon set forth the radical difference between Church and State, and the necessity of keeping them distinct. It was an eloquent appeal for religious liberty and the freedomn of conscience. There was need of such an appeal, for Baptists were still being distressed all through New England, out- side of Boston. Their goods were seized to pay the ecclesiastical tax to the Standing Order. Many were thrown into prison. It seemed impossible to obtain redress from the Courts, from the Legislature, or from the Continental Congress. Dr. Stillinan's fame as a preacher and a patriot gave unusual weight to his protest and appeal. His sermon was afterward pub- lished.
The times were now very hard. The currency was depreciated. Commerce was ruined. An extract from Dr. Stillman's wedding registry throws light on the financial difficulties. He received as the wedding fee, " Aug 4. 1780. 2 Hard dollars at 65 for one or 130 Continental dollars," and in the same year again, " 1/2 Guinea or 75 dollars " as a fee. One needed a basket to carry the depreciated Continental paper money of that time.
July 5, 1781, the church sent the minister, Deacon Gridley, John Bartlett, and Ebenezer Hills to assist in the recognizing of "a number of baptized persons at Cambridge, Second precinct," as a Baptist church, and "finding things agreeable, ye church was consti-
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tuted."> 1 This is now the church in Arlington. In September, 1783, Dr. Stillman preached the sermon at the reopening of Rhode Island College, which had been closed by the British occupancy of Providence. The college buildings had been used by the troops, and its work was temporarily suspended. The sermon was a thankful and animating discourse.
Nov 1783 the melancholy case of our sister Sprague was laid before the Church, she having a cancer in her breast, which will cost 50 Dollars to take out & she has not one dollar in the world. 1
The struggles of the poor were the same then as to-day. The church assisted her, and presumably the surgeon got his fifty dollars.
In June, 1786, several persons were baptized, and among them "Margaret Swift, ye latter but 13 years of age."1 It was not customary to receive very young persons into this church, and hence this record. Little Margaret was the forerunner of a host of the young, who have since that time been baptized upon a profession of their faith. She began a very happy innovation upon the custom of the fathers.
June 18, 1788, the minister and Deacon Gridley went to Newton to attend the ordination of Mr. Joseph Grafton. He afterward fulfilled a notable ininistry there of forty-seven years. . He was a man of great and varied influence among Baptists. Every- body knew and honored " Father Grafton." In this year " Deacon Gridley requested permission of ye chh to sit in his own pew, instead of ye Deacons seat." 1 He said that "ye seat under ye pulpit was inconveni-
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ent for seeing ye minister." 1 The pulpit was high up on the wall, and underneath and in front was the pew for the deacons, who faced the congregation and were invested with much awe and officialism. Deacon Gridley evidently felt that it would be better to be one among his brethren, to sit with his own family, and to see the minister, than to enjoy all the pomp of a deaconship in the deacons' pew. The church never went back to the custom of having its deacons sit under the pulpit.
At this period the standing committee of the Pew Proprietors relieved the deacons of the inost of the financial burden which had rested on them in the older times. The deacons no longer provided for the salary of the minister and the support of public worship. They cared for the poor, attended to disci- pline, looked after arrangements for the Lord's Sup- per, and were the pastor's counselors in spiritual matters.
In September, 1785, Hon. Nicholas Brown (father of Nicholas Brown from whom Brown University was named, and himself also one of its liberal benefactors) married Avis Binney, who had been a member of this church since 1765. Mr. Brown and Dr. Stillman were intimate friends, and when the former died (in 1791) the latter preached his funeral sermon in Provi- dence. The widow gave the church in 1792 the sum of fifty pounds, as the following correspondence will show :
June 18. 1792. The following letter was communicated to the Church by the minister : To the First Baptist Church in Boston
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under the pastoral care of the Revd Dr Sam' Stillman, Please to accept ye sum of fifty pounds which I now send you by ye hands of your Revd pastor which it is my desire shall be appropriated as the beginning of a fund for the sole use of the widows of ye ministers of your church forever. My desire is that it be put out on interest in ye best manner & in ye safest hands : & ye interest constantly added to ye principal until such an object as mentioned above shall appear to need assistance : and then that ye interest only be made use of. By this beginning, tho small, I hope some of our friends will be excited to make such additions as may in time afford ample & permanent assistance to persons of ye above description. The importance & necessity of such a fund is obvi- ous, if we consider ye impossibility of our ministers laying up any part of their sallaries for ye support of their widows : which makes their condition peculiarly distressing. A recent instance of this nature must have come under your observation. I trust your own reflections will render it unnecessary for me to mention any motives for your immediate attention to this necessary & im- portant subject. I bless God that your present prosperous condi- tion as a church puts it in your power to do something in this way. Pardon my presumption if I suggest your opening a sub- scription for all who may be disposed to give to this use, or immediately attending to the matter in any way you think most prudent and effectual. The smallest additions to an accumulating fund wod soon make it of consequence and ye income wod proba- bly be considerable by ye time it shod be wanted. Requesting an interest in your prayers,
I subscribe with much affection Your Sister & Friend AVIS BROWN.
P. S. It is my desire that you will permit Dr Stillman to super- intend this matter & act for me, with such persons as ye church may join with him, as tho I were personally present with you. A. B. Providence June 8. 1792 1
At the next meeting the church voted that,
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whereas Mrs Avis Brown, widow of the late Nicholas Brown, Esquire, of Providence, State of Rhode Island, deceased, from ye benevolence of her disposition, has given to this church for ye benefit of the widows of ye present & of all future pastors thereof, the sum of fifty pounds lawful money as the beginning or founda- tion of a perpetual fund : the income whereof is to be paid to the said widows while they shall so continue. But the income of said fund, during those intervals of time, wherein shall exist no ob- jects of ye donation, shall be added to, & become a part of said fund, the income whereof shall be paid as above mentioned. 1
The church voted to accept this gift and the con- ditions attached, and the pastor and the three deacons were made the trustees for the investment and care of this fund. It was given manifestly to provide for the widow of Dr. Stillman when he should pass away, and is another evidence of the abounding love which existed toward the pastor. Within the next twenty- eight years two pastors' widows were beneficiaries of this fund. It has accumulated until at the present time it amounts to about eight thousand five hundred dollars.
In 1787 Dr. Stillman was elected a member from Boston to the Federal Convention of Massachusetts, which was called to consider the adoption of the new National Constitution. He was one of twelve representatives sent by Boston, and was the only min- ister in the delegation. The convention met January ' 9, 1788, in the State House, but soon adjourned to Mr. Belknap's meeting-house in Long Lane, in order to have inore room. The debates between Federalist and Anti-Federalist grew very hot and lasted almost a month. Massachusetts was considered the hinge
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on which the fate of the National Constitution turned. There were twenty Baptist delegates out of the three hundred and fifty-five members of the convention. Dr. Stillman was among the foremost for the adoption and used all his influence to that end. He was one of the majority (one hundred and eighty-seven to one hundred and sixty-eight) in its favor. Some of the Baptist delegates voted against it, through fear that liberty of worship was not sufficiently guaranteed. It was no small distinction that Boston should have chosen Dr. Stillman as one of its twelve delegates. In 1789 he was chosen by the town of Boston to de- liver the annual oration on the Fourth of July.
There were some ripples on the surface of his min- istry, prosperous and useful as it was.
Josias Nuttage rose up in the public assembly and went out of the Meeting house in a passion, because he disliked something ye minister had said.1
He was disciplined by the church and afterward confessed his fault in so moving a manner that "his acknowledgement brot tears in many eyes."1 In the previous year, "sister Hannah Gray offended the minister & his family by tatling & lying,"1 and was brought before the church, where she made a most humble confession and promised solemnly for the future "to set a watch on my tongue & to be more careful of my conversation & behavior."1 Disturb- ances such as these show that human nature does not vary from age to age.
In the year 1791 the church received many addi-
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tions by baptism, and there was an unusual interest in spiritual things. Among those thus received was Oliver Holden, who afterward became famous as the composer of "Coronation," and many other tunes. He was the publisher of many collections of sacred hymns and tunes.1 The meeting-house was enlarged to accommodate the increasing numbers who came to public worship. Twenty-four feet were added to the west or rear end, thus making a very large and com- modious assembly room. "A letter was received from ye society called Universalists, offering the use of their place of public worship while our own is en- larging."2 This kind offer was declined with thanks, because "we expect to occupy ye house ye whole time that the workmen are enlarging it."2 In this year Dr. Stillman preached in Providence at the ordi- nation of Jonathan Maxcy, who became pastor of the First Church and shortly afterward the distinguished second president of the college. Sept. 14, 1791, Dr. Stillman was present at the meeting of the Warren Association in New Rowley, now Georgetown, Mass., and presented a plan for the establishing of a fund "for the purpose of assisting such young men of the Baptist denomination as may appear to be suitably qualified for the ministry, with a collegiate education." After consideration it was unanimously adopted and a Board of twelve gentlemen, called "The Trustees of the Bap- tist Education Fund," was chosen. In this movement Dr. Stillman was the leader, and was the chairman of the society, whose charter required that all its meet- ings should be held in Boston or elsewhere in Massa-
1 Burrage, "Baptist Hymn Writers," p. 236.
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chusetts. The fund accumulated slowly, but many young men were assisted. The first "approved ap- plicant " was a Boston young man, William Collier. This was the origin of the present Northern Baptist Education Society, whose happy office through more than a hundred years has been the aiding of students for the ministry to acquire a liberal education.1
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