USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Charlestown > The history of the First church, Charlestown, in nine lectures, with notes > Part 16
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" Ralph Sprague ; Richard Sprague; William Sprague ; John Meech ; Simon Hoyte ; Abraliam Palmer ; Walter Pamer; Nicholas Stowers ; John Stickline ; Thomas Walford, smith, that lived here alone before ; Mr. Graves, who had charge of some of the Servants of the Company of Pattentees, with whom he built the Great House this year, for such of the said company as are shortly to come over, which afterwards became the meeting-house ; and Mr. Bright, Minister to the Company's Servants.
" By whom it was jointly agreed and concluded that this place on the north side of the Charles River, by the natives called Mishawum, shall henceforth, from the name of the River, be called Charlestown, which was also confirmed by Mr. John Endicott, Governor.
" It is jointly agreed and concluded by the inhabitants of this town, that Mr. Graves do moddle and lay out the form of the Town, with streets about the hill, which was accordingly done, and approved of by the Governor.
" It is jointly agreed and concluded, that each inhabitant have a two acre lot to plant upon, and all to fence in common, which was accord- ingly, by Mr. Graves, measured out to them.
" Upon which, Ralph Sprague and others, began to build their houses, and to prepare fencing for their lots, which was afterwards set up almost in a semi-circular form, on the south and southeast side of that field laid out to them, which lies situate on the northwest side of the town hill. Walter Pamer and one or two more, shortly after, began to build in a straight line upon their two acre lots on the east side of the town hill, and set up a slight fence in common, that ran up to Thomas Walford's fence; and this was the beginning of the East Field.
" About the months of April and May, in the year of our Lord 1629, there was a great design of the Indians from the Narragansetts, and all round about us to the eastward in all parts to cut off the Eng- lish, which John Sagamore (who always loved the English) revealed to the inhabitants of this town ; but their design was chiefly laid against Plymouth, (not regarding our paucity in the Bay), to be effected under pretence of having some sport and pastime at Plymouth, where, after some discourse with the Governor there, they told him if they might not come with leave, they would without ; upon which, the said Gov- ernor sent their flat-bottomed boat (which was all they had) to sale for some powder and shot ; at which time it was unanimously concluded by the inhabitants of this town, that a small fort should be made on the top of this town hill, with pallisadoes, and flanckers made out, which was performed at the direction of Mr. Graves, by all hands of men, women and children, who wrought at digging and building, till the worke was done; but that design of the Indians was suddenly broke up, by the report of the great guns at Salem only shot off to clear them, by which means they were so frighted, that all their compa- nies scattered and ran away ; and though they came flattering after- wards, and called themselves our good friends, yet were we constrained by their conspiracies yearly, to be in arms.
" In the months of June and July, 1629, arrived at this town, John Winthrop, Esq., Governor, Sir Richard Saltonstall, Knt., Mr. John- son, Mr. Dudley, Mr. Ludlow, Mr. Nowell, Mr. Pinchon, Mr. Broad-
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streete, who brought along with them the Charter [and] Pattent for this Jurisdiction of the Massachusetts, with whom also arrived Mr. John Wilson and Mr. Phillips, ministers, and a multitude of people, amounting to about fifteen hundred brought over from England in twelve ships. The Governor and several of the Pattentees, dwelt in the great house which was last year built in this town by Mr. Graves and the rest of their servants."
NOTE 6, page 13.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH.
THE circumstances which led to the formation of this church, and the method pursued, we learn from a letter written from Salem, July 26, by Samuel Fuller, a physician of Plymouth, and Edward Winslow, at that time on a visit to the new colony. They write as follows :
" To our loving Brethren and Christian Friends, Mr. Wm. Bradford, Mr. Ralph Smith, and Mr. Wmn. Brewster, these be.
" Beloved, &c. :
" Being at Salem, the 25th of July, being the Sabbath, after the evening exercise, Mr. Johnson having received a letter from the Gov- ernor, Mr. Winthrop, manifesting the hand of God to be upon them, and against them at Charlestown, in visiting them with sickness, and taking divers from amongst them, not sparing the righteous, but par- taking with the wicked in those bodily judgments ; it was, therefore, by his desire, taken into the godly consideration of the best here, what was to be done to pacify the Lord's wrath ; and they would do nothing without our advice. I mean those members of our church there known unto them, viz .: Mr. Fuller, Mr. Allerton, and myself, requiring our voices as their own, when it was concluded, that the Lord was to be sought in righteousness ; and so to that end, the sixth day (being Friday) of this present week, is set apart, that they may humble them- selves before God, and seek him in his ordinances ; and that then also, such godly persons that are amongst them, and known each to other, publickly at the end of their exercise, make known their godly desire, and practice the same, viz .: solemnly to enter into covenant with the Lord to walk in his ways; and since they are so disposed of in their outward estates, as to live in three distinct places, each having men of ability amongst them, there to observe the day, and become three dis- tinct bodies ; not then intending rashly to proceed to the choice of officers, or the admitting of any other into their society, than a few, to wit : such as are well known unto them, promising after to receive in such, by confession, as shall appear to be fitly qualified for that estate ; and as they desired to advise with us, so do they earnestly entreat that the church at Plymouth would set apart the same day, for the same ends, beseeching God, as to withdraw his hand of correction, so to establish and direct them in his ways; and though the time be very
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short, yet since the causes are so urgent, we pray you be provoked to this godly work, wherein God will be honored, and they and we un- doubtedly have sweet comfort in so doing. Be you all kindly saluted in the Lord, together with the rest of our brethren ; the Lord be with you, and his Spirit direct you in this and all other actions that concern his glory, and the good of his.
" Your brethren in the faith of Christ, " And fellowship of the Gospel, " SAMUEL FULLER, " EDWARD WINSLOW.
" Salem, July 26, Anno 1630." 1
NOTE 7, page 14. JOHN WINTHROP.
THE character of John Winthrop will bear close study. He was one of the few individuals who, like Washington, combined great and good qualities in a union as rare as it is happy. His character is wor- thy of the more attention, because the Puritans are so commonly rep- resented as men of cold sentiments and rigid principles-cultivating the sterner virtues to the neglect and contempt of those which give symmetry and grace to the character, and constitute the principal charm of domestic and social life. We do not mean to imply that the Puritans were perfect men, or that they have not often exposed them- selves to such charges as these. But it is not too much to say, that when tried by the spirit of the times-the only fair method of judging- few characters can be found on the records of history, which, for noble- ness, dignity, and the beauty of a just proportion, are superior to that of Winthrop, and his associates of the same rank in the several plan- tations. It will be difficult to parallel the magnanimity of Winthrop, under the trials he sustained, of the loss of property, the endurance of severe privations, and the unjust, not to say malicious aspersions cast upon his fair name. And his domestic character was as lovely as his public was noble. As a husband and a father, he was characterized by the strongest affections. Of this, we have a singularly beautiful proof in his letters, published in Savage's edition of his journal. No lover of the domestic virtues, can read those letters without admiration and delight. His letters to his wife are remarkable for the intense affection, as well as self-controlling faith in God they express. His farewell to her-for her situation did not permit her accompanying him-is singularly beautiful. [See p. 165.]
The letters of Mrs. Winthrop, are of the same character ; in one of them she writes : " I have many reasons to make me love thee, whereof I will name two : first, because thou lovest God ; and secondly, because that thou lovest me. If these two were wanting, all the rest would be eclipsed."
1 1 Hist. Coll. III. p. 75.
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This was Margaret, the third wife of Governor Winthrop. She was married to him, April 29, 1618, and died June 14, 1647, aged about fifty-six years ;- " a woman," says the Governor, in recording her death, " of singular virtue, prudence, modesty, and piety, and espe- cially beloved and honored of all the country."
For his last wife, he married Martha Coytmore, a member of our church, and widow of Thomas Coytmore, who lost his life by ship- wreck, on the coast of Spain, December 27, 1645.1
NOTE 8, page 14.
THOMAS DUDLEY.
GOVERNOR DUDLEY lived first in Cambridge, but upon Mr. Hooker's removal to Hartford, he removed to Ipswich, and at length fixed his habitation in Roxbury, where he died July 31, 1653, in the seventy- seventh year of his age. Ile was a man of great integrity and strength of character, distinguished for his love of justice, his zeal for good order, and his attachment to the faith and order of the churches. The following verses were found in his pocket after his death ; they may further illustrate his character.
Dim eyes, deaf ears, cold stomach shew
My dissolution is in view ; Eleven times seven near lived have I, And now God calls, I willing die. My shuttle's shot, my race is run,
My sun is set, my deed is done ; My span is measured, tale is told,
My flower is faded and grown old, My dream is vanish'd, shadow's fled,
My soul with Christ, my body dead ; Farewell, dear wife ! children, and friends-
Hate heresy, make blessed ends ; Bear poverty, live with good men,
So shall we meet with joy again.
Let men of God in courts and churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch, Lest that ill egg bring forth a cockatrice, To poison all with heresy and vice. If men be left, and otherwise combine, My epitaph's, I died no Libertine .?
NOTE 9, page 15. JOHN WILSON.
REVEREND JOHN WILSON was born at Windsor, 1588. He was the third son of Dr. William Wilson, a prebend of St. Paul's, of
I For a more particular account of Governor Winthrop, sce Mather's Magnalia, and Savage's Winthrop.
2 Magnalia I. 120. N. E. Memorial, p. 255.
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Rochester, and of Windsor, and rector of Cliff. His mother was a neice of Dr. Edmund Grindal, archbishop of Canterbury. He received his education at Eton and Cambridge. At the university he embraced the sentiments of the Puritans, and falling under censure on this account, he was induced by his father to study law, which he did for three years. His disposition to enter the ministry of the gospel, con- tinuing, however, he was permitted to return to the university in preparation for it. The difficulty he met with in obtaining ordination, is said to have led him to express his desires to God, in the following language : " That if the Lord would grant him a liberty of conscience, with purity of worship, he would be content, yea, thankful, though it were at the furthermost end of the world." A most prophetical reso- lution ! says Mather.
Soon after preaching his first sermon, he was called to the bedside of his dying father, where he kneeled, in his turn, with her to whom he was engaged in marriage ; and the old gentleman blessed him in the following terms : " Ah, John, I have taken much care about thee, such time as thou wast in the university, because thou wouldest not conform ; I would fain have brought thee to some higher preferment than thou hast yet attained unto. I see thy conscience is very scrupu- lous concerning some things that have been observed and imposed in the church; nevertheless, I have rejoiced to see the grace and fear of God in thy heart, and seeing thou hast kept a good conscience hitherto, and walked according to thy light, so do still, and go by the rules of God's holy word. The Lord bless thee, and her whom thou hast chosen to be the companion of thy life !"
Mr. Wilson was distinguished for the many and varied excellencies of his character. He was not only charitable and generous, but was liberal to a fault ; " he acted," says Mather, " as if the primitive agree- ment of having all things in common, had been of all things most agreeable unto him." Ile was a staunch friend to the faith and order of our churches ; and when one of another order was set up in Bos- ton, his language to his family was, " I charge you, that you do not once go to hear them; for whatsoever they may pretend, they will rob you of ordinances, rob you of your souls, rob you of your God." But notwithstanding the strength of his attachment to his own religious principles, he was no less remarkable for his affectionate feelings. On one occasion, when he was present at a great muster of soldiers, a gentleman remarked to him, " Sir, I'll tell you a great thing ; here's a mighty body of people, and there is not seven of them all, but what loves Mr. Wilson ;" to which he immediately replied-" Sir, I'll tell you as good a thing as that ; here's a mighty body of people, and there's not so much as one of them all, but Mr. Wilson loves him."
In his younger days, he was greatly admired for his methodical preaching ; but after he became a pastor, and was associated with Cotton and Norton, so distinguished as teachers, he gave himself greater latitude in preaching, and his discourses, which were upon texts that had been doctrinally treated of by his colleague, immediately before, were without distinct propositions, and consisted chiefly of ex- hortations and admonitions and good counsels ; but were, notwithstand- ing, very effective. He was accustomed, for the encouragement of the ministry and of religion, to go round and visit the congregations of the
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neighboring towns, at their weekly lectures, until prevented by the weakness of age. " And it was a delightful thing," says Mather, " to see upon every recurring opportunity, a large company of Christians, and even magistrates and ministers among them, and Mr. Wilson at the head of them, visiting the lecturers in all the vicinage, with such heavenly discourses on the road, as caused the hearts of the disciples to burn within them ; and it was remarked, that though the Christians then spent less time in the shop, or field, than they do now, yet they did in both prosper more."
Mr. Wilson was emphatically a man of prayer, and the answers he is said to have received, are among the most remarkable any where on record. The blessings, too, which he pronounced upon individuals, seemed prophetical ; in so much, that many, and those of the most consideration in the colony, came from great distances, bringing their children with them, to receive his patriarchal benedictions. Rev. Thomas Shepard, of our church, who composed an elegy upon him, and seems to have been a pupil of his, alludes to this circumstance as follows :
" As aged John, the apostle, us'd to bless The people, which they judged their happiness, So we did count it worth our pilgrimage Unto him, for his blessing in his age."
Mr. Wilson was famous for his skill in making anagrams, which consisted in a witty conceit of transposing the letters of a name so as to make a different word or sentence. He was accustomed to make anagrams upon all his friends, and upon the name of any remarkable person he met with. Such verses were commonly attached to the hearse at funerals; and it looked, says Mather, like a piece of injus- tice, that Wilson's funeral, among the many poems it produced, brought out so few anagrams. "Some," he says, "thought the Muses looked very much dissatisfied, when they saw these lines upon his hearse :
JOHN WILSON. Anagram, JOHN WILSON.
Oh! change it not ; no sweeter name or thing, 'Throughout the world, within our ears shall ring.
Mr. Ward, the witty author of " The Simple Cobler of Agawam," said with reference to Wilson's well-known hospitality, that the ana- gram of John Wilson was, " I pray come in, you are heartily welcome." He died August 7, 1667, in the seventy-ninth year of his age.1
1 See Mather's Mag. ; New England Memorial ; Winthrop's Journal, &e.
1,
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NOTE 10, page 16.
WILLIAM BLACKSTONE.
OF this gentleman, the first white inhabitant of Boston, living alone there, as Thomas Walford was on the Charlestown side, the following notices will be interesting.
Hle had been living there four or five years when Winthrop and his company arrived, and resided there about as long after. He was an Episcopal clergyman, who left England because he liked not the " Lord's bishops ;" and Boston, afterwards, because he liked not the " Lord's brethren."
Mr. Blackstone lived in the western part of Boston, where, near a spring, he had built a cottage, cultivated a garden plot, and planted an orchard-the first in Massachusetts.
In the year 1634, he sold his property for £30, each householder paying him 6s. or more. With this he purchased cattle, and removed to the south about thirty-five miles, and settled near Providence. His house was situated near a stream called Abbot's Run, on a knoll which he called "Study Hill ;" it was surrounded by a park, which is said to have been his daily favorite walk. He died May 26, 1675, and was buried on Study Hill, where " a flat stone marks his grave." 1
NOTE II, page 18.
INHABITANTS REMAINING IN CHARLESTOWN.
IN the month of September, (26th,) a levy was imposed upon the several plantations, of which Charlestown was to pay $7, and Boston £11. So that it would seem the majority had removed across the river at this time.2
After the separation had taken place, in the autumn of 1630, we find the following entry made upon our Town Records.
" A list of the names of such as staid, and became inhabitants of this town, in this year 1629,3 following :
Increase Nowell, Esq., William Hudson, Ezekiel Richeson,
Mr. William Aspinwall, Mr. John Glover, John Baker,
Mr. Richard Palsgrave, William Brakenburry, John Sales.
Edward Converse, Rice Cole,
William Penn, Hugh Garrett,
Capt. Norton, Mr. Edward Gibbons,
These four went and built in the maine, on the north- Mr. William Jennings, { east side of the northwest ereek of this town." John Abignall,
1 2 Mass. Hist. Coll. x. 170. Savage's Winthrop, I. p. 44 .- 2 Prince, p. 318 .- 3 1630, it should be. See Note 5.
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NOTE 12, page 18.
MRS. WILSON.
THE object of Mr. Wilson's return to England, was to persuade his wife to accompany him, which he could not do when he first came. He seems to have failed, however, in this second endeavor, as we learn from the following extract of a letter written by Margaret Win- throp, to her son, in May or June, 1631. " Mr. Wilson is now in London, and promised me to come and see you. He cannot yet per- suade his wife to go, for all he hath taken this pains to come and fetch her. I marvel' what mettle she is made of. Sure, she will yield at last, or else we shall want him exceedingly in New England." Mr. Wilson made another visit to England in 1635, and his wife probably returned with him at that time. After Mrs. Wilson had been per- suaded to accompany her husband into the American wilderness, Mather says he heard that she received for her consolation, a curious present from her kinsman, old Mr. Dod. " He sent her at the same time, a brass counter, a silver crown, and a gold jacobus ; all of them severally wrapped up, with this instruction to the gentleman that car- ried it : that he should, first of all, deliver only the counter; and if she received it with any show of discontent, he should then take no further notice of her ; but if she gratefully resented that small thing, for the sake of the hand it came from, he should then go on to deliver the silver, and so the gold; but withal, assure her, ' That such would be the dispensations of God unto her, and the other good people of New England : if they would be content and thankful with such little things, as God at first bestowed upon them, they should, in time, have silver and gold enough.' Mrs. Wilson, accordingly, by her cheerful entertainment of the least remembrance from good old Mr. Dod, gave the gentleman occasion to go through with his whole present, and the annexed advice, which hath in a good measure been accomplished."1
NOTE 13, page 21.
NEW AND OLD STYLE.
ACCORDING to the old style, the length of the year was computed to be 365 days and 6 hours ; so that every fourth year-called bissextile or leap year-when the 6 hours amounted to 224, an additional day was reckoned, and the year made to consist of 366 days.
But this method of computing time was erroneous, because the length of the year was not 365 days and 6 hours, but 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 49 5.7 ; so that by the old style, the year was reckoned 11 minutes, and 10.7 seconds too long.
'The old style commenced in the 45th year before Christ, and was introduced by Julius Cesar, from whom it has received the name of the
1 Sce Mather I. 281. Winthrop I. 382.
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Julian Calendar. In the third century of the Christian Era, there was no difference between the two methods of computing time, or would have been none, had the new style been used then. But at the close of that century, the difference of the styles was one day, and increased a day in about 123 years ; so that in 1582, when Pope Gregory XIII. introduced the new style, the old style had fallen behind 10 days. Gregory, accordingly, ordered that 10 days be omitted from the reck- oning, so that the day after October 4, of that year, be called October 15, and made provisions against the accumulation of errors for the future. The Gregorian rule by which this correction is effected, is as follows: " Every year whose number is not divisible by 4, without remainder, consists of 365 days-every year which is so divisible, but is not divisible by 100 of 366-every year divisible by 100, but not by 400, again of 365-and every year divisible by 400, of 366. For ex- ample, the year 1845, not being divisible by 4, consists of 365 days; 1848 of 366; 1800 and 1900 of 365 each ; but 2000 of 366." By this simple rule, the calendar may be preserved from any perceptible variation for thousands of years.
But this was only a part of the change effected by the introduction of the new style. It changed the period for the year to commence.
According to the old style, the year began on the 25th March, which was Lady day, or Annunciation, in commemoration of the event recorded Luke i. 26-38. But by the new style, it was made to begin on the 1st day of January. This will explain at once the use of double dates, which were common, and indeed necessary during the period of transition from one style to the other. It was customary to give two dates for the days that occurred between the Ist of January and the 25th of March ; e. g. February 9, 1717-18, i. e., 1717, old style, when the year ended in March ; and 1718, new style, when it began in Jan- uary. Thus, according to the old style, January was the 11th month, and February the 12th, while September, October, November, Decem- ber were, as their names import, the 7th, Sth, 9th, 10th. Double dates are given on our church records, during the months of January, Feb- ruary and March, from the commencement of the century, as 1700-1, down to 1752, as 1751-2, when the new style became legal and universal.
The change of style which took place in Catholic countries in the latter part of the sixteenth century, through the influence of the Pope, was not adopted in England and its colonies, until 1752, when, by act of Parliament, it was ordered that 11 days-the difference between the styles amounting to that after 1700 -be omitted in the calendar, so that the day following the 2d of September of that year, should be called September 14, agreeably to the new style.
From the above remarks, it is obvious, that to reduce old style to new, it is necessary simply to add 10 days, if the date is of the 16th or 17th century ; 11 days, if the date be of the 18th century, and 12, if the date be of the present century, as is the case with Russian dates. Care must also be taken to give double dates, or specify which style is used in recording the dates of events occurring between 1st January and 25th March, when the difference of style was, as explained above, one whole year. e. g. This church was organized 2d day of the 9th month, 1632, old style ; or, November 12, 1632, new style. The first
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