USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Essex > Two centuries of church history : celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the organization of the Congregational church & parish in Essex, Mass., August 19-22, 1883 > Part 6
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Turning now from the fortunes of the old church, to the branch, which had been sundered from it, had taken root so vigorously and become so thrifty, we find that the seceders -nine men and thirty-two women-were, by a council of two Separatist churches, from Boston and Plainfield, Conn., justi- 'fied in the course they had taken, aided in preparing articles of faith and discipline and a covenant and organized as the fourth church in Ipswich, (that at Hamilton being the third), on the twenty-second of May 1746; and that on the seven- teenth of December, this church elected Francis Choate and Daniel Giddinge, ruling Elders, and Eleazar Craft and Solo- mon Giddinge, deacons .*
Its members and all who worshipped with them were, by law, obliged to pay a property tax to the old parish, (as that was a territorial organization), and therefore to carry a double financial burden ; until, after six years of opposition to their
* The ruling Elders were officers provided for in the "Cambridge Plat- form," who, (with the pastor) should constitute a sort of "session," to do the business of the church and to carry out its direction. "This office never had the unanimous sanction of the churches and had become nearly obsolete before 1683." It was now, however, first established in this church but dropped out of use in less than fifty years.
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application to the General Court, the petitioners, fifty-seven in number, obtained an act of incorporation, Dec, 8, 1752, and with their families and estates were made a distinct and separate precinct; and their house of worship-the third in Chebacco-was erected the same year.
Remembering that this also was entirely a laymen's move- ment to secure a more evangelical faith, a more vigorous spiritual life in the church and greater freedom in religious matters, whom do we find to be the leaders and energetic workers in it?
Of the new parish Joseph Perkins was one of the founders and prominent members, its clerk from the beginning for over twenty years and its treasurer for nearly the same length of time. For a long period he kept a tavern nearly opposite the church and died April 4, 1805, at the age of eighty-five.
Among others who were the moving spirits in this Separa- tist Religious Society, the office-bearers in the new church, not only by virtue of their position, but because they were actually foremost in its history for many years, its chief direc- tors and upholders, are brought conspicuously before us, at the opening of its career.
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One of them was Elder Francis Choate, a son of "Governor" Thomas Choate whose abilities and force of character had made him a leader in the affairs of the community and effi- cient in his devotion to the interests of the church in Mr. Wise's day and later and who lived to witness the scenes of the great revival, dying in 1745, at the age of seventy-four. Francis, born Sept. 13, 1701, was bred under Mr. Wise's preaching was a young man of twenty-four when Mr. Picker- ing began his ministry, was converted in the revival of 1727, and from that time onward was known as a man of firm principle, familiar with religious doctrines and of uncommon depth and fervor of piety. He was most heartily in sympathy with the wide spread and intense religious interest which Whitefield's preaching awakened and of which he gives an
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account in his journal. In the secession from the old church he was one of the chief actors and unsparingly devoted all . his intellectual strength and energy to the promotion of the welfare and growth of the new one. The council which con- stituted that church met at his house, (now Mr. Lamont Burnham's, occupied by Mr. Frank Andrews) ; he was its first moderator ; and on his grounds took place the ordination of its first minister, whose right-hand man and warm personal friend he was ever after.
For thirty years a Justice of the Peace and almost con- stantly employed in law business and in civil affairs as a town officer, acute and skilful in debate, Esq. Choate became the strong staff of the young church whose cause he espoused in the maturity of his manhood and retained the fervor of his attachment to it to the end of his life.
Another of these "New Lights" of Chebacco was Dea. Eleazer Craft, a son of Benjamin and Abigail ( Harris) Craft, born in Roxbury, May 5, 1711. Through the influence of his brother Benjamin, who was also one of the Separatists, and was a Louisbourg soldier, Eleazar came to Chebacco, and married Aug. 25, 1738, Martha Low, who died Sept. 28, 1797, aged eighty-three. Dea. Craft was a farmer and lived not far from the corner of the old and new roads to Manchester. In the preparation, Sept. 15, 1747, of the "Plain Narrative of the proceedings, which caused a separation of a number of aggrieved brethren from the second church in Ipswich," he took an active part. Elected deacon at the formation of the church, he was, from Nov. 20, 1765, until his death, May 28, 1790, at the age of seventy-eight, a Ruling Elder and was the last one who held that office. A faithful church officer for forty-four years, he was very highly esteemed for his ar- dent piety and uniform christian deportment.
Still a fourth leader of the Separatists was Ensign James Eveleth, whose father Joseph moved to Chebacco in 1674 and was remarkable for his piety as well as for the great
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age to which he attained. His is the first name on the record of those who joined the Chebacco church after its organization in 1683. In a deed distributing some of his property by gift among members of his family, in 1719, the year after the building of the second meeting-house, he directs his children "to pay to ye church of Christ in Chebacco forty shillings, to be laid out and improved towards ye buying a piece of plate for ye use of said church."
A great granddaughter, (who was fifteen years old at his death), used to describe in her old age the visit made to him by Rev. Mr. Whitefield in 1740, her mind always retaining, as she said, a "vivid impression of the solemnity of the scene presented when Whitefield knelt upon the floor and received, from the lips that could relate a christian experience of nearly a hundred years, a truly patriarchal blessing." Living to witness the scenes of the great awakening, he died Dec. I, 1745, at the age of one hundred and five years.
His oldest son, John, was the first Chebacco boy to receive a liberal education. A graduate of Harvard in 1689, he preached at Enfield and at Manchester for a short time, at Stowe, seventeen years, then at Kennebunkport and Bidde- ford Me., until 1729, and died at Kittery, Me., Aug. 1, 1734.
James, the youngest son of Joseph, received from his father in 1715 a deed of lands in Chebacco, the consideration being "that naturall law and parentall affection which I have and do bare unto my loveing son James Eveleth, of said Chebacco in Ipswich, as also for his dutifull carriage towards me, and his faithfull serving of me."
This son, Ensign James, was not only one of the twenty- six, who in 1744 presented to Mr. Pickering their "causes of disquietude," but was also one of the four who had come so directly into antagonism with the minister, as to feel obliged to send him, April 29, their statement of "additional griev- ances." He was also one of the nineteen who signed the "Plain Narrative" and was appointed one of a committee of
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two, to tender an invitation, Jan. 27, 1746, to Rev. John Cleaveland, then of Boston, to visit Chebacco and preach there. Mr. Eveleth was a farmer and lived at the Falls, where Mr. Luther Burnham's house now stands. Through his only son, James, descended Aaron Eveleth, a soldier in the Revo- lution, among whose children was the late Capt. Jonathan Eveleth.
That Elder Daniel Giddinge (a town-representative in 1758, who died Oct. 25, 1771, aged sixty-seven), was an effi- cient co-worker with Messrs. Perkins, Choate, Craft and Eveleth, there is good reason to believe. The first meeting to form the Separate Society was held at his house. And his vigilance and promptness to act for its interests, as well his ability to wield the pen with some pertinence and force, come out clearly in a brief document printed by him in Boston, Feb. 12, 1748, the opening of which explains the occasion and intent of it and is as follows :
"Whereas, the subscriber, one of the brethren that left the Rev. Mr. Pickering's church, being in Boston and perceiving that the 'Answer to the aggrieved brethren's Plain Narrative' is dispersed among the members of the General Assembly now sitting, containing among a number of groundless insinuations, a few things objected to some of the facts in said Narrative, tending to discredit the same and bring an odium on the nar- rators, dispersed as I suppose to prejudice the said Honorable Court against us at this time : To prevent this, I will say, as what I am ready to verify and make good, as follows :"
Then he proceeds to give what he calls a "brief statement in eight particulars ;" which is clear, concise and to the point.
Further light is thrown upon the intellectual and religious character of these office-bearers and their associates, by two things which accompanied the organization of this new church and the settlement of its first minister.
The first was the preparation and adoption of an elaborate code of eighteen articles of faith and discipline .* How much
* See Appendix C.
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their past ecclesiastical experiences had to do with suggesting the necessity of these articles and with putting them into the shape they assumed, may be inferred from the few paragraphs I will read from them.
" Ist. That we will have such officers as Christ Jesus has appointed and ordained in his holy Word, viz : a Pastor or Pastors, Ruling Elders and Deacons.
2d. That no person shall be admitted to either of said offices, unless he has Scripture qualifications evidently appearing to the satisfaction of the church.
3d. That the Church shall have the sole power of electing and appoint- ing all the officers of the Church.
5th. That no person shall be admitted as a member of our Church, but such as shall give a particular account of a saving work of the Spirit of God upon his or her soul, to the satisfaction of the Church.
7th. That we will not admit of any person to minister to us in holy things, who shall refuse to submit to an examination of the state of his soul by such a number of the brethren as the Church from time to time shall think fit to appoint; and shall give to them a satisfactory account of a work of grace wro't upon his soul ; who shall also sign these articles before he shall be ordained to the Pastoral care of this Church.
13th. That neither Pastor nor Elders shall invite any person to preach, until they are satisfyed that he has a work of grace wro't on his soul. .
14th. We believe that all the gifts and graces that are bestowed on any of the members are to be improved for the good of the whole; in order to which there ought to be such a gospel freedom, whereby the Church may know where every particular gift is. that it may be improved in its proper place, and to its right end, for the glory of God, and for the good of the Church.
15th. The confession of faith agreed upon by the Assembly of Divines at Westminster we fully agree to in every respect, as to the substance of the same.
. 16th. We would always have recourse to the Platform agreed upon by the Synod at Cambridge in New England, A.D. 1648; and for the further explanation of our own sentiments respecting church discipline. etc., we will always be willing to be guided thereby with the following exceptions and emendations :-
Chap. 10, Section 6. Respecting the Direction of a Council being nec- essary in order for a Church to remove their Pastor we do except against. Sec. 8. We judge the Elders ought to call the Church together when de- sired by any one member; and whenever the Church is mett, the brethren have a right, one by one. (asking leave) to declare their mind without in- terruption or hindrance, and that the Elders have no power to adjourn or dissolve meetings without a vote of the Church.
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Chap. 13, Sec.4. Respecting magistrates having a power to force people to contribute for the support of the gospel, we except against. being not intrusted with the support of the same; that the Church have power to deal with all such as will not, if able, contribute to the support of the gospel, we hold, and also that by the Holy Scriptures Gifts may be received, but not forced from any without.
Chap. 17, Sec. 9. Respecting the magistrates having a coercial power, or right to punish a church that rends itself off from the churches, being by them judged incorrigible and schismatick, we except against.
ISth. Lastly, That if notwithstanding our great care in the admition of a Pastor or Pastors, or other officers, any or either of them should deny or walk contrary to these Doctrines, and persist therein, then in such a case said person or persons shall no longer have any power or authority in the Church, but shall be, and hereby are, debarred therefrom, until manifest tokens of their Humiliation and Repentance."
If these articles are not Calvinistic, Low-church, Indepen- dent, Democratic, then to what could you apply these epi- thets? There is certainly no room in them for clerical authority, or a dead formalism to lurk ; nor could one charge this church with any lack of self-control. These sentences recall and illustrate Mr. Wise's declaration that "democracy is Christ's government in church and state."
The other thing particularly noticeable is the cool, business- like way in which these laymen proceeded to execute the provisions of these articles in their selection of a minister and to sit in judgment on the theological and spiritual quali- fications of a candidate for the pastoral office before giving him a call to settle with them. Their record reads as follows :
"Dec. 17. 1746. At a meeting of the newly-gathered Congregational Church of Christ in Chebacco. upon adjournment, it was voted: That John Cleaveland be desired to declare his principles, which he did as follows :"
Then is given what is entitled "The Principles and Fun- damentals of Mr. John Cleaveland's Faith," in twenty articles, an elaborate and minute creed, essentially that of the West- minster Assembly of Divines, but wrought into shape by his own thought and expressed, in the main, in his own language; and closing with these words :
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" These articles I profess to believe, not only speculatively and scientifi- cally, but also heartily and practically through rich grace and boundless and matchless love in the dear Redeemer." "John Cleaveland."*
The Record continues :
"These foregoing principles had a good and unanimous acceptance by the Church. And it was unanimously voted : That Mr. John Cleaveland should be pastor of this church; That our choice of Mr. John Cleaveland for pastor be laid before the society for their concurrence ; That a commit- tee be chosen to give the said Mr. Cleaveland a call to the pastoral office."
Where could you find a company of men more competent to manage their ecclesiastical affairs than that one? Surely there was no need in Chebacco, an hundred and thirty-seven years ago, of a Presbytery or a Bishop to tell these intelligent, reflecting Bible-students, spiritually enlightened, what to believe, or who was a suitable religious teacher and guide for them. These godly, liberty-loving but self-controlled, Prot- estant, Americanized Englishmen of the fourth generation, had not let go their English Bible as the Inspired Word, nor sold their God-given birthright for any mess of pottage, whether prelatical or presbyterial on the one hand, or ration- alistic or "theistic" on the other.
In these Christian laymen is brilliantly displayed the sturdy Puritan character of the seventeenth century ennobled by the "Great Awakening" of the eighteenth century.
REV. JOHN CLEAVELAND.
But who was this John Cleaveland and what were his ante- cedents that he should so exactly suit this new Chebacco Church? His great grandfather, Moses Cleaveland was a first settler in this country, from that same old Ipswich, England, from which had come some of the founders of our Ipswich. His grandfather, Josiah Cleaveland, removed from Chelms- ford, Mass., to the fertile meadows of the Quinebaug in Can-
* See Appendix D.
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terbury, the central southern town of Windham County, in the northeast corner of Connecticut, in 1693, being one of its original settlers. Hisfather Josiah Cleaveland was one of the most influential men in his day in all town matters there. Throughout his life a pillar in the Congregational church, he left it, at his death, in 1751, his part of the ownership of the meeting-house and £200 in money.
Very early in the history of the Great Awakening, a deep religious thoughtfulness spread through Canterbury. "Many leading members of the church and among them Josiah Cleaveland were aroused to new interest, and became active in promoting the work." Among the children and youth, hopefully converted, was his son John, the seventh of eleven children, born April 1I, 1722, who united with the church in 1740.
From a fragment of an autobiography and diary, we learn that John's early life was spent upon the farm, with the three winter months at school, and amid the influences of a christian home. An injury caused by an ambitious attempt to outstrip others in stone-wall building disabled him for severe physical labor and, beginning preparation for College in September, 1739, he entered Yale in 1741, in a class which graduated twenty-seven members.
Of his College course he writes :
"I took special delight in the study of the Greek Testament, Logic, Nat- ural Philosophy and History. But in the midst of all these studies I found the Gospel to be that which my soul was then most captivated with, not merely the doctrinal part, which however was divinely sweet, but the practi- cal and vital part, it being the time of my first love, when the candle of the Lord shined with divine lustre and efficacious splendor on my soul."
During the first winter in College he hears "heavenly news from Canterbury;" his brother Ebenezer and his sisters are converted ; his father's house has become a little Bethel. His journal in the spring vacation gives a glimpse of the progress of the revival in his native place and indicates great religious interest and activity there.
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Just at that time, however, (May, 1742) the government of Connecticut, acting on the opinion of the General Con- sociation of churches that "the growing extravagances and excesses accompanying the religious excitement throughout the state were to be attributed to the intrusion of unauthorized itinerants and the holding of free religious conferences," passed an act to correct and prevent these evils by forbidding the preaching of evangelists and exhorters and the speaking in meeting by laymen, without permission from constituted authority. This extraordinary law, of course, excited great opposition and only aggravated the disorders it was intended to cure, and not more in other places than in Canterbury where in 1744 the religious disturbances had greatly increased.
The parish ( and a minority of the church) had determined to settle a minister to whom a large majority of the church- earnest supporters of the revival movement-were opposed. The latter had therefore withdrawn from the meeting-house, and were holding religious services in private houses, con- ducted by laymen. John Cleaveland and his brother Ebene- zer, in the summer vacation of that year, being members of the church, of course attended with them.
The church and state authorities took the ground that every church in the state was subject to the "Saybrook Platform," except by formal dissent at the time of its organization, and that no subsequent vote by any number of its members could change its status ; that the minority at Canterbury were there- fore the church ; and that the majority by declaring themselves Congregational according to the Cambridge platform, (as they had done in 1743, after carefully investigating the origin and history of their church, through a committee), had forfeited their ecclesiastical standing and legal privileges and were a body of "Separatists" whose meetings were unlawful.
On the return of the Cleavelands to College, in November, they were summoned before President Clap, on the charge of violating a law of the College which also forbade attendance
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on "Separate" meetings. They argued their case with force ; but although they pleaded for delay, a bill was immediately issued against them, suspending them from all the rights and privileges of the College, for violating the law of God, the Colony and the College, until satisfaction should be made in the form of a public confession to this effect. This they could not, in conscience, do. They sent to the Faculty a very respectful and humble petition to be restored to college standing, but instead of accepting it, the government of the College administered a formal admonition, Nov. 19 .* Their collision with the authorities was very widely published and excited great sympathy. Their mother and other friends sent them letters, entreating them to be true to their own convictions, and not to deny their church and wrong God and their own consciences by making a false confession. As they did thus hold fast to the position they had taken, President Clap sum- moned them to the Hall, sometime in the month of December and announced the formal sentence of expulsion.
The next May the brothers sent in a memorial to the Leg- islature of the state, praying for a redress of their grievances and to be immediately restored to their standing in College.
"In a well written document they recite the reasons for their father's separating, with a majority of the church members, from the religious society in Canterbury ; and complain that they have been punished for that which was not against College law. They say near the close of their peti- tion, and with reason, as people now think : ' May it please your Honors, as we understand the laws of this colony, the Congregational persuation is as much under the countenance of the laws of this colony as the Say- brook Platformists are : and therefore we think it hard measure indeed to be cut off from our College privileges, merely for being of the Congrega- tional persuation, and acting agreeable thereto, while the Saybrook Plat- formists, professors of the Church of England, Seven-day and other Baptists and Quakers have and have had free liberty to enjoy all the privi- leges of College, their principles and practices in the vacancies of College agreeable thereto notwithstanding.'"+
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*See Appendix E.
tPres. Woolsey's Historical Address.
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Their petition, however, was dismissed without action of either house.
At a later day, as Mr. Cleaveland himself writes: "Through the application to the College Corporation of a number of min- isters in the neighborhood of Chebacco, accompanied with reflections made by me to the Reverend President, which were 'satisfactory', a diploma of A.M., and my standing in my class, (that of 1745), were granted me in 1763. The honorary degree of A.M. was also conferred upon him in 1782 by Dart- mouth College.
For several months of the year 1745 Mr. Cleaveland studied theology with Rev. Philemon Robbins of Branford, Conn., an able and popular preacher and a warm advocate of the revival measures. In August he began preaching in some of the "new light" churches of Windham county, and was desired by the one in his native town to become its minister. The next month he was invited to a "Separate" church in Boston, then worshipping in the old Huguenot meeting-house in School street; and he supplied their pulpit about eight or ten months. Nov. 12th, he wrote to Mr. Robbins, his instructor, that he had preached sixty times in and around Boston, and that the Lord had been with him in' a wonderful manner.
In response to an invitation of Jan. 27, 1746, from James Eveleth and Francis Choate, as he writes in his journal: "Feb. 17th, I rode to Chebacco and preached in the meeting-house, each of the four days following. When I took my leave of them, the assembly was watered with tears."
On the 20th of May he was the moderator of the Council which organized the new church in this village and preached- here again in August. A formal request in the autumn from the Boston society to become their pastor he was still holding under consideration, when the Chebacco church made their overtures to him in December.
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