USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Taunton > The ministry of Taunton, with incidental notices of other professions > Part 12
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July 27th, 1719, at a church meeting, the church did there approve of the Platform of Church Discipline and did agree by vote to practice ac- cording to the rule of it.
Sept. 5th, 1734. This Platform, agreed upon by the Synod at Cam- bridge, 1648, was read to the Church, and they did once more unani- mously approve of it, or the substance of it, and agree to practice ac- cording to its rules."
* The name of Leonard has always existed in Norton. Not far from 1690, Major George, third son of Thomas Leonard, removed to that part of Taunton, and bonght large tracts of land. Major George was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1716. His son, Colonel George, was Judge of Probate, and Chief Justice of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. His son George, the third from Thomas, married a daugh- ter of Hon. Samuel White, was a Representative in Congress, and also Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. His daughter Peddy, relict of Hon. Jabez Bowen, Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, has recently died in Norton, at the original Leonard mansion, at an advanced age, leaving one of the largest landed estates in the Commonwealth.
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THE MINISTRY OF TAUNTON.
Rev. JOSEPH AVERY, the first minister of the church in Norton, was ordained on the same day with the formation of the church. "At his ordination," say the records, " Rev. Samuel Danforth of Taunton, gave the charge, and the Rev. Thomas Greenwood of Rehoboth, gave the Right Hand of Fellowship." Mr. Avery was son of Mr. Wil- liam Avery of Dedham, born April 9, 1687, graduated at Harvard University, 1706. In the year of his graduation, he was hired by the committee of Rehoboth, "to keep school within the Ring of the Green for a quarter of a year for £7, 10 shillings silver money."* He was after- wards employed by the General Court to preach at Free- town as missionary at ten shillings per Sabbath .; He had a brother in the ministry, settled at Truro, Rev. John Avery,¿ also a graduate of Harvard in 1706. Mr. Avery was dismissed from the pastoral office in Norton in 1753(?),¿ and died April 23, 1770, aged eighty-three.§
* Bliss' History of Rehoboth, page 133.
t Annual Report of Massachusetts Home Missionary Society.
# Rev. Mr. Blake, of Mansfield. Vide next note.
§ The date of Mr. Avery's death appears on the church records, but not of his dismission. For this latter fact, as well as some others in the notice of Norton, I am indebted to one who is intimately acquainted with the early history not only of Mansfield, the place of his settlement, but of that part of Bristol county. I am inclined to think however, that Mr. Avery was dismissed earlier than Mr. Blake supposes. The parish took action on the subject of his dismission, according to their Records, in November, 1748. They complain of Mr. Avery for " not ruling and governing the Church of Christ in the South Precinct, (so called in dis- tinction from the North Precinct, now Mansfield, established in 1731,) of the town of Norton, according to the Platform of Church Discipline, (which said church had voted to be their Rule of Discipline,) nor accord- ing to the plain votes of that church which he himself had called for, but still refused to govern according to." (I'recinct Records, page 28.) They moreover requested the church to dismiss Mr. Avery, but the church records in their imperfect, illegible state give no clue to the charges against Mr. Avery, or the precise time of his dismission. It must have been prior however, to April 17th, 1749, for on that day the "inhabitants of the South Precinct vote that Capt. William Stone, John Wild, and Dea. Benjamin Hodges be a committee to joyne with the committee of ye church in providing a minister to supply the Pulpit."
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JOSEPH AVERY.
After Mr. Avery's dismission, which was probably in 1749, several persons were invited to settle in the Gospel ministry who declined. There was a call issued for a meeting in the South Precinct meeting-house "to make choice of some man that is a learned orthodox man, June ye 16th, 1749." The result of the meeting was the con- currence on the part of the parish with the church in the choice of Mr. Eliakim Willis as minister. He declin- ed the call. Again, March 20th, 1750, the parish concurred with the church in the choice of Mr. Joseph Roberts to be their minister. Mr. Roberts returned a written answer, dated September 29, 1750, declining the call, in which he says : " I have deliberated upon this im- portant affair, and advised both with relatives and others, and in view of some circumstances among you, am inclin- ed to think it best to determine in the negative. I hope none of the people of this place will either be offended or grieved with me in not giving my answer sooner, since Providence prevented by sickness, and my being perplex- ed by two calls at one and the same time. I conclude this reply to your invitation in the words of the Apostle : " Finally, brethren, farewell; be perfect, be of good com- fort, be of one mind, live in peace and the God of love and peace shall be with you."
The record was made by George Leonard, for many years "Precinct Clerk." Hon. Cromwell Leonard, in reply to a letter of inquiry, writes : " When I was a boy, I very often visited the grave-yard which was but a few rods from my father's house, and there was hardly an inscription on a stone in that old burying-yard, that I could not repeat. Many of them I retain to this day, although learned half a century ago. I well remember the grave and stone of the wife of Rev. Joseph Avery, and also well remember asking my father, (who was one of his congrega- tion,) where the minister's grave was, (as I could not find it,) and he told me that Mr. Avery did not die at Norton, and was not buried here. This, I have no doubt, is true. Our oldest people have no knowledge of his death or burial."
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THE MINISTRY OF TAUNTON.
Again, Sept. 30, 1751, the Parish concurred with the church in the choice of Mr. Elijah Lothrop to be their minister. He likewise declined; and May 11th, 1752, the parish concurred with the church in the choice of Mr. Jo- seph Palmer to be their minister. They received answer as follows, in September of that year:
"To the first church of Christ in, and inhabitants of the first parish in Norton :
Dearly beloved in the Lord:
Inasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God, the wise Governor of the world, to permit a separation between you and your late Reverend Pastor, and since this separa- tion to incline you so far to pursue your own best interest, as to be desirous of re-settling the Gospel ministry amongst you, and since He from whom every man's judgment pro- ceeds, who has the hearts of all men in His hands, has inclined you to choose me for your minister, (unworthy as I am,) as appears by a copy of your votes sometime since presented to me; and having, as I trust, with a serious concern to promote God's glory and holy kingdom, both in myself and you, taken into consideration, your invitation of me, to settle among you in ye work of ye Gospel min- istry ; and having been importunate with God for direction, and having asked advice of men, am determined to accept of your invitation ; with only asking that you would please make an addition to the offers you made me for my sup- port,* and that is, viz : to supply me with sufficiency of fire
The Parish voted "as a settlement one hundred and thirty-three pounds, six shillings and eight pence, lawful money, one half thereof to be paid in a year after he shall settle, and the other half in two years. Voted, also, as his annual salary, the sum of sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings, and four pence, lawful money." This was a small advance on Mr. Avery's salary, which was in 1735, £60, and "for his care of the meeting-house, sweeping, locking, and unlocking the same," three adili- tional pounds. In succeeding years the parish allowed for " Mr. Avery's
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wood, it being no more than what is common of late with towns and parishes to do. By your granting this, I do accept of your invitation, trusting in the Great Head of the Church for assistance in ye important service, and in your goodness for a comfortable support, if what you have already proposed, and may now further add for that pur- pose, should prove insufficient. Desiring your earnest prayer to God for me.
(Signed,) JOSEPH PALMER.
Cambridge, Sept. ye 15th, 1752."
Rev. JOSEPH PALMER, the second minister of the South* Precinct of Norton, was graduated at Harvard in 1747, and ordained in Norton, January 3, 1753. He died April 4th, 1791, in the sixty-second year of his age, and thirty- ninth of his ministry .; He died and was buried among the people of his pastoral care and love. Hon. Cromwell Leonard, whose father owned and occupied the place, where Mr. Palmer lived and died, has transcribed and for- warded the inscription on the stone erected to his memory.
negro's sweeping, locking and unlocking the meeting-house," one pound less. The proposition Mr. Palmer made concerning the "fire-wood" was not acceded to, " The Precinct looking upon what they have already voted as sufficient." How the matter was finally adjusted, does not ap- pear. But the final answer of Mr. Palmer is on record in these words : " Dearly beloved in the Lord: whereas you have once and again, (by your votes,) manifested a desire of my settling with you in the work of the Gospel ministry, I would now inform you that I am determin'd, and do accept of your invitation upon the offer you made me for my support : trusting in your goodness, for a comfortable maintenance, if what you have offered, should not be sufficient; and desire your prayers to Al- mighty God that I may be a faithful Pastor.
(Signed,) JOSEPH PALMER.
Norton, Oct. 21, 1752."
* It has been already stated that this part of Norton was so called to distinguish it from the North Precinct, now Mansfield.
+ Norton Church Records, page 18. Also, Rev. Stephen Palmer's sermon on death of Rev. Roland Green, page 19.
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THE MINISTRY OF TAUNTON.
" Sacred To the memory of the Rev. Joseph Palmer, Pastor of the Congregational Church and Society in Norton.
"He departed this life April 4th, 1791, in the 62d year of his age, and 39th of his ministry. His character was an assemblage of those eminent and endearing virtues, which constitute the faithful pastor and exemplary chris- tian, the kind husband, the tender parent, the generous friend and the good man.
" He taught us how to live, and oh ! too high A price for knowledge! taught us how to die."
Mr. Leonard adds : "The society are now worshipping in their third house. I believe the first house was not much used after Mr. Avery's death, and the second, which according to my remembrance, was erected about the year 1753, was abandoned soon after the death of Mr. Clark, our third minister, who died in 1835. I have learned from my parents, that Mr. Palmer was not without his trials and troubles in his parish, but had, as a whole, a quiet ministry."
"Mr. Palmer's widow survived him a little more than fifteen years. She died May 20, 1806, aged 72 years." This fact is found in a note to "a sermon delivered at Mansfield, July 31, 1808; being the fourth Lord's Day after the interment of Rev. Roland Green, Pastor of the church in that town, by Stephen Palmer,* A. M., Pastor of
* Mr. Palmer of Norton had four sons, William, who died at the age of thirteen, Joseph, Stephen and George. He also had four daughters. Sarah, the eldest, yet lives, on a small place in Taunton, on the Provi- dence road, a short distance beyond Oakland. The next daughter was the wife of the Rev. George Morey, late of Walpole, Mass., and the mother of the Hon. George Morey, a well known lawyer of Boston. The third daughter was wife of Rev. Dr. Richmond, late of Dorchester, but for a long time minister of Stoughton. The fourth and last daugh-
B W. Thayer & Co's Lith . Boston
Ditt Clarke
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PITT CLARKE.
the first church in Needham." Stephen Palmer was son of the minister of Norton and a graduate of Harvard University in 1789. He informs us that Rev. Mr. Green of Mansfield "prayed at the funeral of his father, and on the succeeding Lord's Day preached at Norton to the be- reaved church and society. His text in the forenoon was Rev. 2: 1, These things saith He, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand-and in the afternoon Heb. 13: 7, Remember them, which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."
Rev. PITT CLARKE was the successor of Mr. Palmer in the ministry of Norton. The church made choice of him as Pastor, October 12, 1792, and he was ordained July 3, 1793. From a friend I have received a suitable sketch of his life and character, which is here inserted.
" Rev. Pitt Clarke, (or Clark as the name was formerly written,) long known as the Pastor of the First Congre- gational Parish in Norton, Massachusetts, was born in Medfield, in the same State, January 15, 1763. His father, Jacob Clark, was one of three brothers, whose grandfather came from England and settled in the north of Wrentham. His own grandfather removed to Med- field, and purchased a farm, where some of the descend- ants of the family still remain. Pitt, was one of a family of seven children, for whom the tilling of the soil in a re- tired New-England village, with constant and severe econ-
ter was Hannah, and the wife of Rev. Isaac Braman, long the minister of Rowley. Hon. Cromwell Leonard, who has furnished other impor- tant facts in the notice of Norton, quotes the above from memory, and adds, that he thinks the name of Mrs. Morey was Mary, and of Mrs. Richmond, Lucy, but is not certain. Mr. Leonard is related to the "Leonard family" already noticed. They all claim descent from Leon- ard, Lord Dacre, one of the most distinguished families of the nobility in England, "descended in two lines from Edward III."
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THE MINISTRY OF TAUNTON.
omy, afforded sufficient, but not abundant means of sup- port. In his mother, whose maiden name was Meletiah Hammond, were united an intense religious sensibility, a deep and almost painful feeling of personal responsibility, and a naturally nervous temperament. These all prompt- ed her carly and earnestly to instill into the minds and hearts of her children, a pious reverence towards God, a sense of the great importance of religious interests, and daily habits of devotion, to which, more than any other outward cause, may be attributed the early determination of this one of her sons to devote himself to the sacred office. An early fondness for the acquisition of knowl- edge, and a desire to increase his fitness for that high post of duty, led Mr. Clarke to covet eagerly the advantages of a public education. These however, the straightened cir- cumstances of his family could not readily command, and made it manifest, that if acquired at all, they must be by his own exertions. Various circumstances conspired to postpone, to a comparatively late period, any opportunity to accomplish these wishes. His daily services were re- quired upon the farm; public and private interests were disturbed by the war of Independence ; he himself was at one time called upon to join the militia of his native town in a sudden expedition to defend the State against a threat- ened invasion of the British by the way of Rhode Island ; the destruction of his father's house and furniture by fire, (a circumstance of no small moment to a family so situat- ed,) all united to frustrate his carly endeavors to obtain an education. Soon after the close of the Revolution however, having by industry and great frugality, gathered together a portion of the requisite funds, he applied him- self with renewed earnestness to the studies preparatory
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for entering college. These he pursued by the aid, and under the direction of the late Hannah Adams, a name widely known in the literature of New-England. From her faithful training he passed, with credit, into Harvard University in July, 1786, at the age of twenty-three years. His mind, naturally vigorous, and inquisitive, in- clined him more particularly to scientific and classic stud- ies, and in these, especially in the mathematical depart- ment, his scholarship was sound, and much beyond that usually attained by the graduates of his day.
He received the honors of the University in 1790, but was compelled to devote his first exertions to replenishing the slender capital he had prepared for his education, by the emolument of teaching. For two years he took charge of the town school in Cambridge, at the same time devot- ing all the leisure, he could command from this duty, to the pursuit of his theological studies, and in April, 1792, was examined and duly approbated to preach, by the Cam- bridge Association of ministers. After occasional servi- ces in neighboring parishes, in August of that year, he relinquished his school, and accepted an invitation to preach from the first Congregational society in Norton, whose pulpit had been recently made vacant by the death of the Rev. Joseph Palmer. This was the first place of his preaching as a candidate, and though the desk had been previously occupied by several others since Mr. Palmer's decease, such was the favor with which his labors were re- ceived, that, after preaching only four Sabbaths, he received from the church an invitation to become their pastor. This call was sudden and unexpected to him, and following upon so recent an acquaintance, did not command the unanimous assent of the parish, though seconded by a
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decided majority in the church. He did not immediately accept it, but with that cautious judgment, for which he was ever distinguished, proposed a temporary arrangement, by which he continued to supply their pulpit during the following winter and spring, thus securing to himself and the parish, an opportunity for more mature deliberation before entering upon an engagement which was then re- garded as terminating only with life. A better acquain- tance on the part of the parish served only to increase the confidence his first coming had inspired, and resulted in a renewed and more decided invitation, from church and parish, to make the connexion a permanent one. This in- vitation he accepted, and he was accordingly ordained July 3, 1793, the services of the occasion being principally per- formed by the Rev. Thomas Prentiss, of Medfield, who preached the sermon, Rev. Jacob Cushing, of Waltham, who gave the charge, Rev. Roland Green, of Mansfield, who gave the right hand of fellowship.
"A solemn day to me!" (says the Pastor, in a short auto-biographical notice found among his papers after his decease,) " my deepest impression was, that I was insuffi- cient for these things. I felt the force of that passage, ' I knew not how to go out and come in before the people,' and made it the subject of my first discourse after ordina- tion."
This, his first field of earthly labor, proved the only one in which he was to work. For two and forty years, the connexion thus formed continued unbroken, and then only by the hand of death. So many years of his early life, spent by Mr. Clark in the healthy exercise of the farm, with a constitution of great natural strength and vigor, and the simple habits of living, to which he always adher-
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ed, all combined to secure to him a life of uninterrupted health and strength, and enabled him, with a constancy and certainty, rarely equalled, to meet the various and constantly returning duties of his office. Rarely if ever was he known, from any cause, to be absent from the desk on the Sabbath, from the bedside of the sick and dying, the house of mourning, or any other station, to which duty called, during all the years of his lengthened ministry. He was remarkable for his habits of industry, regularity and order,-always an early riser, the first hours of the morning found him uniformly at his work, and many of his discourses were prepared during the earliest hours of days largely occupied by the labors of the farm. He continu- ed, during all his life, to supply the deficiencies of an in- adequate salary, by partaking, in common with many of his parishoners, in the toils of the husbandman, with which his early training made him familiar.
His whole character, as a man and a minister, was not only above all reproach or question, but in every respect faithful and exemplary. Among his clerical brethren he was widely respected for his sound judgment and wise counsel, and was frequently called to assist or preside in their deliberations. He took a hearty and efficient inter- est in the cause of education, devoting much of his time and attention to the care of the common schools in his parish. He rendered important service, for many years, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bristol Academy, in Taunton, and in 1827 became a life member of the American Education Society.
He possessed largely the confidence of his people, and his counsel and advice were often sought by them, in mat- ters of private and personal concern. Among them he
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THE MINISTRY OF TAUNTON.
was loved and esteemed, as possessing, in an unusual de- gree, that quiet evenness of temper, that daily serenity of life, and calmness of judgment, under all circumstances, which must ever form the most reliable elements of char- acter. In him, these qualities so constituted the texture of his daily life, that those who knew him best and saw him oftenest, rarely, if ever, saw them in any degree dis- turbed or shaken.
These characteristics appeared in his public ministra- tions, and gave to them a quiet and simple earnestness, accompanied by a directness of appeal and application, which rendered them profitable to the people of his charge, and made him an acceptable preacher in all the neighbor- ing pulpits.
Mr. Clarke continued always to enjoy the confidence of the University where he was educated, and his house, was often selected by its government, as the temporary resi- dence of those, whose immediate connexion with the col- lege was, from any cause, interrupted; and many passed from his careful hands to the walls of the University.
In the constant, but unobtrusive duties of his parish, the forty-two years of his life and his ministry passed away. It appears from the entries in a diary, kept during the last twelve years of his life, and found among his pa- pers after his decease, that a sense of the importance of his duties, and of the obligation to fidelity imposed by his office deepened as he saw himself approaching the end of his earthly ministry. Though his health and strength failed not, still with each year he seemed more fully to realize that but few more remained to him here.
The last entry made in his diary, under date of Janua- ry 1, 1835, though he was then in perfect health, closes with
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these words: 'The days of my years teach me that the solemn test of my character is at hand-that eternity is at my door-that there is but a step between me and death.' This step was shorter even than he anticipated. A short but severe illness of only eleven days duration, arrested him in the midst of his active duties, and suffered but one Sabbath to pass between the one which witnessed his last ministrations to his own people and that on which they were summoned to mourn at his funeral. He died February 13, 1835, at the age of seventy-two-meeting the end in a sustained and serene faith, as being but the beginning of the better life. One of his clerical breth- ren,* who visited him frequently during his sickness, spoke of this dying scene in these words :
'I testify, (and I bless God for the privilege of so tes- tifying,) that often as I have stood by the bed of mortal sickness, and prayed, and watched and wept as one and another of the spirits of flesh was quitting its tenement of clay, never have I beheld a death-bed scene more sublime- ly edifying, more christianly serene, sustained, and consol- ing, than that of the aged servant of Christ, who sleeps in death before us. Truly his latter end was Peace. He knew in whom he believed, and "endured, as seeing Him, who is Invisible." The Being whom he served, shed down into his soul the gladsome tokens of His presence. Supports he experienced, which the world could not give, which flesh and sense were incapable of administering, but which death itself could not take away. "My heart is fixed," he exultingly exclaimed, "My heart is fixed, trust- ing, O, Lord, in Thee. I am now ready to be offered,
* Rev. Andrew Bigelow, D. D., then minister in Taunton, who preached in Norton on Lord's Day, February 15th, 1835, a funeral ser- mon which was afterwards published.
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THE MINISTRY OF TAUNTON.
and the time of my departure is at hand. Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit." And he sunk from life to rest in peace, and sleep in the "blessed hope."
Rev. Pitt Clarke was married to Rebecca Jones, young- est daughter of Col. John Jones, of Hopkinton, Massachu- setts, February 1, 1798. He was married a second time to Mary Jones Stimson, daughter of Doctor Jeremy Stim- son, of the same place, November 12, 1812. He had nine children, three of whom died in infancy. Six are still living, viz: By his first wife, Abigail Morton Clarke, the wife of Mr. John J. Stimson, of Providence, Rhode Island; William Pitt Clarke, now residing in Ashland, Massachusetts; John Jones Clarke, Esq., of Roxbury, Massachusetts. By his second wife, George Leonard Clarke, of Providence ; Manlius Stimson Clarke, Esq., and Edward Hammond Clarke, M. D., of Boston, Mass.
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