USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > Two hundredth anniversary, St. Paul's parish, Newburyport, Mass. commemorative services with historical addresses > Part 2
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The Governor made good his promise, for in a few weeks he issued a mandamus freeing all members of the mission from taxation for all other bodies.
For twenty years, from 1722 to 1742, Mr. Plant served every Sunday at the Chapel. When a church was built at the Waterside (Newburyport) he for a time officiated alternately at the Chapel and at the Church (St. Paul's).
Later, a difficulty having arisen between Mr. Plant and the Water- side people, his services were confined to the Chapel for about three years. After which, by order of the Society, he resumed services at the Waterside, holding alternate services, and continued them till his death in 1753, as his health would allow. Owing to his infirmities there were many times when there were no services at either place.
In 1751, the difficulties having been amicably settled according to the directions of the Society, Mr. Plant was inducted into St. Paul's Church. He was to secure an assistant and allow him twenty pounds per annum. In the same year Mr. Plant chose Rev. Edward Bass as his assistant. Mr. Bass being acceptable to Mr. Plant and St. Paul's Church, went to England for orders and received ordination as deacon, from Bishop Sherlock, in Fulham Chapel, May 17, 1752, and Priest May 24, 1752. He returned to Newbury in the autumn of the same year and entered on his work at St. Paul's.
In 1753, the Society being informed of the death of Mr. Plant, appointed Mr. Bass (at the request of the Church Wardens) as Mis- sionary in Newbury, directing him to officiate once a month at Queen Anne's Chapel, which he did till 1766, when services there were discon- tinued, as much the greater part of the worshipers resided nearer the
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THE CHURCH IN NEWBURY
Church at the Waterside, and as the Chapel was out of repair it was agreed by the worshipers at both churches, without opposition, to assemble altogether in St. Paul's Church.
Mr. Plant was zealous in his profession, taking a fatherly care of his people, regulating his affairs with wisdom and prudence. He was a man of strict integrity and a high sense of decorum. He was a success- ful farmer, a land owner, and a careful observer of men and events. He records in his parish register unusual events, as storms, floods, excessive cold, and earthquakes. He was liberal in his donations. He gave fifty pounds for the new Church, paid eighty pounds for the glass and sixty pounds for arrearages, besides many smaller sums outside of his mission.
Mr. Plant died April 2 and was buried April 4, 1753, the Rev. Dr. Cutler of Christ Church, Boston, preaching his funeral sermon.
In 1760, some of the attendants at the Chapel, by reason of the omission of services three Sundays in the month, joined with others in forming a new Parish and used the Chapel by permission for their ser- vices, till they could build a meeting-house of their own. It is prob- able that from 1760 to 1766 there was Congregational worship three Sundays in the month and Church of England service every fourth Sunday.
The establishment of a mission of the Church of England in New- bury was not a subject of " mere local concern." It attracted wide attention.
King's Chapel in Boston existed from political necessity, not by the permission of the ruling powers. It was looked upon as an unwel- come and intrusive body. It had existed for a quarter of a century and had increased in numbers and influence.
During this time missions of the Church had been formed north and south of Massachusetts Bay, but King's Chapel remained the only place in the Province where the services of the English Church were publicly celebrated.
Scattered Churchmen read the service in the privacy of their homes and went occasionally to the Chapel in Boston on some great festival like Christmas or Easter. To the watchful observers there were no signs of the extension of the Church, and they no doubt earnestly hoped that there would be none, and that the Prayer Book service had been restrained and effectually limited.
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ST. PAUL'S PARISH
This feeling of security was suddenly broken when twenty persons of the West Precinct of Newbury (not known as favorers of the Church of England) delivered to Governor Dudley a petition saying that they were of " the pure Episcopal Church of England," and that they had sent to the Bishop of London for a minister and that they desired protec- tion.
This action was of importance as showing a distinct gain in open- ing the way for greater freedom in religious liberty. For this reason it was an occasion of grief and fear to the opponents of the Chapel and of encouragement and joy to those who believed in and favored it.
To the eminent diarist, Judge Samuel Sewall, it was a grievance that the Church of England had been set up in his family town of Newbury.
To Col. Francis Nicholson and John Bridger it brought satisfac- tion as showing that the services which they loved and venerated, and for which they zealously labored, had gained a new station in Massa- chusetts Bay and was a sign of further extension.
Queen Anne's Chapel stands in the history of Massachusetts Bay as a significant sign of the exercise of the right of Liberty of Conscience and of the inherent right of worshiping God according to the dictates of one's conscience. As such it is worthy of commemoration and remem- brance and of thanks to God for its founding and preservation.
Baptized in the year 1914. Henry Lunt y son of Skipper
+ & Elizabeth Lunt Bap. April 11. JoJah, Thomas & mary the + Children of Richard Bartlet. Baptized April 18.
FACSIMILE OF HANDWRITING OF THE REV. JOHN LAMBTON
From the records of Queen Anne's Chapel
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Samad Barbell Abisl Long John Bartist Gasolle Annis Joshua 800NM Shipper Lust Forish Janeyan Boniconije Long Steven Rogers Ephraim Davis Thomas Bartlet James harbutt william Romanos John Çay
Robert Dagers John Merrill William Money Richart. Williams
SIGNATURES TO THE BY-LAWS OF QUEEN ANNE'S CHAPEL, NOVEMBER 22, 1722 From Queen Anne's Chapel Records
FACSIMILE OF J. BRIDGER'S SEAL AND SIGNATURE From letter in St. Paul's Church records, dated January 20, 1711
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH NEWBURYPORT
From its Establishment in 1738 to the present time
truly yours,
Info.Courrier.
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH NEWBURYPORT
ADDRESS BY HON. JOHN J. CURRIER IN ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
SUNDAY AFTERNOON, JUNE 4, 1911
When Queen Anne's Chapel was built in 1711, Newbury was an agricultural town, and the inhabitants, interested in maintaining relig- ious worship at the " Plains," were practical and prosperous farmers. A few years later ship-building was established, in favorable locations, at the Waterside between Chandler's Lane, now Federal Street, and Ordway's Lane, now Market Street, Newburyport, and trade with Barbadoes and other West India Islands was carried on quite exten- sively. In 1738, Joseph Atkins, Patrick Tracy, Michael Dalton, An- thony Gwynn, and other merchants and sea captains, suggested the building of a new church for the accommodation of the inhabitants living near the centre of the town.
To this suggestion Rev. Matthias Plant gave his assent and sub- scribed the sum of fifty pounds to be expended in the purchase of mate- rials for the proposed new edifice.
May 13, 1738, Joseph Atkins purchased, of Moses Ordway, land on the corner of Ordway's Lane, now Market Street, and the country road, now High Street, and February 3, 1741, conveyed this land, with a building erected thereon, to the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Paul's Church. At that date the building was unfinished, and although con- venient and comfortable was evidently devoid of architectural grace or beauty.
At a meeting of the Wardens and Vestrymen, held May 1, 1744, a contract was made with Eben and Nathan Little to build the pulpit and pews in the body of the Church for one hundred pounds, and with Ephraim Blaisdell to plaster the walls and ceiling for eighty pounds.
Four of the pews built at that date were assigned to Joseph Atkins, three to Thomas Tannatt, two to Patrick Tracy, three to Joseph Cottle,
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ST. PAUL'S PARISH
two to Michael Dalton, two to Benjamin Harris, one to John Crocker, one to William Atkins, one to Thomas Woodbridge, one to Ambrose Davis, and one to Daniel Marquand. Other pews were assigned to William Jaques, Joseph Greenleaf, and others, including one to the Wardens and one to strangers.
The men prominent in the early history of St. Paul's Church were evidently merchants of broad and liberal views; sea captains familiar with the worship and ritual of the Church of England in foreign lands, or mechanics and artisans of recognized skill and ability.
JOSEPH ATKINS, for many years one of the Wardens and Vestry- men of the Church, was the son of Andrew and Sara Atkins. He was baptized November 4, 1680, in St. Clement's Church in the town of Sandwich, County of Kent, England, and probably came with his wife and two sons to Newbury, Mass., in 1724. A few years later his wife died, and April 7, 1730, he married Mary, widow of Francis Wain- wright, of Boston, daughter of Joseph Dudley, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and sister of Katharine, wife of Lieut .- Governor William Dummer. He owned and occupied a spacious dwelling-house on what is now Strong Street, Newburyport, with an attractive garden extending to the Merrimack River. He died January 21, 1773, and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard. The inscription on his tombstone reads as follows :
This Stone Is erected to the Memory of Joseph Atkins, Esquire, One of the Founders and a Generous Benefactor of this Church. Formerly an Eminent Merchant In this town And highly esteemed by those who knew him. He departed this life January 21, 1773, Atat 92 and of Mrs. Mary Atkins, The virtuous and amiable Relict of Joseph Atkins, Esquire, and daughter of His Excellency Joseph Dudley. She died November 19, 1774, Atat 82.
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
PATRICK TRACY, elected Vestryman in 1743, served in that capacity for several years. He was probably born in Wexford County, Ireland, but came to Newbury at a very early age, and soon became a promi- nent shipmaster and ship-owner. He married, first, Hannah Carter, of Hampton, N. H. ; second, Hannah Gookin of the same town; and third, Mary, widow of Michael Dalton. His sons by the second marriage, Nathaniel and John Tracy, and his daughter, Hannah, who married Jonathan Jackson, were conspicuous in the commercial and social life of Newbury and Newburyport previous to the Revolution. He died February 28, 1789, and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard.
BENJAMIN HARRIS was one of the Wardens of St. Paul's Church in 1743, and afterwards served as Vestryman for ten or fifteen years. He was the son of Rev. Henry Harris, and was born in Boston in 1718. He came to Newbury in 1738, and was one of the subscribers to the fund raised to defray the cost of building St. Paul's Church. He mar- ried in October, 1740, Lucy Whitman, of Stowe, by whom he had two daughters, Elizabeth, born November 8, 1741, and Mary, born No- vember 9, 1746. For many years he owned and occupied a dwelling-house on Greenleaf Lane, now State Street, and through land on the easterly side of this house Harris Street was laid out in 1796. He died March 8, 1773, and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard.
CAPTAIN JOHN CROCKER was a member of Christ Church, Boston, and married, April 12, 1727, Mary, daughter of Thomas and Mehitable Savage. He removed to Newbury in 1737, probably, and was one of the Wardens of Queen Anne's Chapel in 1739 and served as Vestryman in 1740. When the new church building on the corner of Ordway's Lane, now Market Street, and the Country Road, now High Street, was completed he was elected Vestryman and afterwards held the office of Warden until 1753 and perhaps later. He had a ropewalk on the easterly side of Frog Pond, on land now known as Bartlet Mall, where he manufactured cordage for ship-owners and ship-builders. He died March 19, 1763, and was buried in St. Paul's churchyard.
THOMAS TANNATT was one of the Vestrymen of St. Paul's Church in 1743 and was subsequently reelected to that office or to that of
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ST. PAUL'S PARISH
Warden for ten or fifteen years. He was a sea captain and died in Newbury July 21, 1759, leaving a widow, Mary, and one son, Thomas Tannatt. After the death of his father Thomas Tannatt, Junior, learned the trade of a baker and established himself in business in Newburyport. In 1793 he sold his dwelling-house, bakeshop and land and removed to Boston.
MICHAEL DALTON, son of Philemon and Abigail (Gove) Dalton was born in Hampton, N. H., February 22, 1709, and came to Newbury when only seventeen or eighteen years of age, looking for employment. After several successful voyages to the West Indies he was placed in command of a ship, and, February 3, 1733-4, married Mary, daughter of Tristram Little. A few years later he purchased a house on the northwesterly side of Market Square, where he lived until 1746, when he built and afterwards occupied the house on State Street, now the property of the Dalton Club. He was one of the Vestrymen of St. Paul's Church in 1743, and afterwards served in that capacity or as Warden for more than twenty-five years. He died March 1, 1770, and was buried in the southeasterly corner of the churchyard, near the grave of Patrick Tracy.
ANTHONY GWYNN, born in Bristol, England, married, October 26, 1738, Mary Gerrish, of Newbury, Mass., and two years later purchased one-half a dwelling-house, with the land under and adjoining the same, near the meeting-house then standing in what is now Market Square, Newburyport. He was Warden of St. Paul's Church in 1745 and 1746, and Vestryman from 1747 to 1753. In the early deeds of conveyance to and from him he was sometimes called Mariner, but more frequently Merchant. During the last years of his life he owned and occupied a house on Water Street, near the foot of Federal Street, with the wharf adjoining, now the property of Cashman Brothers. He died leaving no children, and by his will, dated February 21, 1772, and proved February 6, 1777, he gave the whole of his estate, real and personal, to his wife, Mary, who survived him.
DANIEL MARQUAND Was Warden of St. Paul's Church in 1745 and Vestryman in 1746, 1748, and 1749. He married Mary Brown, of
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
Newbury, and lived for many years in a house on Water Street, at the head of what is now Commercial Wharf. He died May 31, 1789, when eighty-nine years of age. The house that he owned and occupied at the time of his death, with several warehouses adjoining, was destroyed in the great fire of 1811.
THOMAS WOODBRIDGE, a Vestryman of St. Paul's Church in 1743 and annually elected to that office until chosen Warden in 1749, was born in Newbury January 31, 1708-9 ; a lineal descendant of Rev. John Woodbridge, and son of Benjamin and Sarah Woodbridge. He married Dorothy Titcomb June 10, 1735, and by this marriage had several children ; Sarah, a daughter, baptized by Rev. Mr. Plant, of Queen Anne's Chapel, June 16, 1738, and a son (name not recorded) baptized by the same clergyman, October 7, 1739.
He purchased a dwelling-house on the northwesterly corner of State Street and Market Square in 1746, with land under and adjoin- ing the same, and lived there for many years.
After the death of his first wife, Dorothy (Titcomb) Woodbridge, he married Sarah Greenleaf, November 21, 1749. He was one of the subscribers to the fund raised by members of St. Paul's Church in 1756 for the purchase of an organ, imported by Thomas Brattle, and by him bequeathed to the proprietors of King's Chapel in Boston.
In 1763 he was one of the petitioners to the General Court for the incorporation of the town of Newburyport, and was at that time an active and enterprising ship-builder and part owner in several small vessels.
In 1768 his brothers, Benjamin and Joseph Woodbridge, conveyed to him land with the buildings thereon at the foot of State Street, after- wards known as the Ferry Wharf property, and at or about the same time he leased for a term of ten years land in the rear of the present Police Station, then known by the name of the Middle shipyard.
The date of his death is uncertain, but he was buried January 21, 1774, by Rev. Edward Bass.
Other merchants and men of prominence in Newbury were interested in the effort to establish and maintain public worship in the new church and contributed liberally to the fund raised for that purpose. In 1743
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do Declare that will Confirm by the liturgy of the Church of England as itis now by Law Established. Ederana Baf
This Declaration was made mit Subscribed
before Us by the Said Edward Bags, Clerks. to be Vierneed To perform the Ministerial Offer in theProvince of New England i Cimericas third day of thay
1752. and in the fourth year four Translation
The London.
FACSIMILE OF EDWARD BASS'S DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY TO THE LITURGY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, WITH THE SIGNATURE AND SEAL OF THOMAS, BISHOP OF LONDON, 1752
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
an agreement was made with Rev. Matthias Plant to supply the pulpit and read the service every other Sunday until otherwise ordered. This arrangement, however, did not prove satisfactory and led to complica- tions that left St. Paul's Church without a settled minister for nearly nine years.
In the meantime Rev. Mr. Plant remained in charge of Queen Anne's Chapel and devoted his whole time to its temporal and spiritual affairs.
After several unsuccessful attempts to reconcile the conflicting views and opinions of Rev. Mr. Plant and the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Paul's Church, a settlement was finally agreed upon June 24, 1751, and Edward Bass was sent to England to be ordained to the priesthood. On his return to Massachusetts in October or November, 1752, he was appointed assistant to Rev. Mr. Plant, who was then in charge of both the Episcopal churches in Newbury.
Although Queen Anne's Chapel and St. Paul's Church had separate organizations and were to a certain extent independent of each other, they were subject to the same ecclesiastical authority, were located in the same town, and constituted one parish that still retains its ancient rights and privileges in the Diocese of Massachusetts.
Rev. Mr. Plant died April 2, 1753. After that date Rev. Edward Bass officiated in the chapel on the Plains until 1765, when, owing to the death of many of the older parishion- ers, and the dilapidated condition of the building, services were discontinued.
The church at the Waterside, also under the care of Rev. Mr. Bass, was more vigorous and prosperous, and arrange- ments were made to build additional pews for the accommodation of the increased number of worshipers.
In January, 1753, a committee was appointed to agree with some suitable per- son to build a porch and front gallery to the church, and in 1756 an organ was pur- chased of the treasurer of King's Chapel, in Boston, and was probably the first one set up in the town of Newbury. It was
THE BRATTLE ORGAN PURCHASED IN 1756 BY ST. PAUL'S CHURCH FOR £500.
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Name, and the benefit of thy holy Church, through Jefus Chrift our Lord .. Amen.
A Prayer for the High Court of. " 'Parliament, to be read during their Selfion.
M OST gracious God, we humbly befeech thee, as
for this in general, fo
wral CounHefpecially for the"
at this time affembled ; That thou wouldeft be pleafed to direct and profper all their Confulta- tions to the advancement of thy Glory, the good of thy Church, the fafety, honour, and welfare, of worte
; that all things may be fo ordered and fettled by their endeavours, upon the beft and fureft foun- dations, that peace and happi- nefs, truth and juftice, religion and piety, may be eftablithed among us for all generations. Thefe, and all other neceffa- ries, for them, for us, and thy whole Church, we humbly beg in the Name and mediation of Jefus Chrift, our moft bleffed Lord and Saviour. Amen.
" A Collect, or Prayer for all Con- ditions of Men, to be ufed at fuch Times when the Litany is not ap- pointed to be faid.
0 God, the creator and pre- ferver of all mankind, we
that thou wol to make thy v them ; thy fay all Nations. M pray for the go Catholick Chu be fo guided a thy good Spir profefs and Chriftians, may way of truth, a in unity of fpi of peace, and of life. Fmall' to thy Father thofe who are ed or diftreffec or eftate [* efp thofe for whor prayers are de that it may thee to comf them accordir ral neceffities ; tience under and a happy their affliction beg for. Jefus Amen ..
AT A Prayer that any of ti.
O God, wl property mercy and to our humble though we be with the chain let the pitifuln mercy loofe us
PAGE FROM PRAYER BOOK OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCHI
SHOWING CHANGES MADE BY BISHOP BASS DURING THE REVOLUTION
" Kingdom " changed to "Commonwealth."
" High Court of Parliament under our most religious and gracious King" changed to " General Court."
" Our sovereign and his kingdom," changed to " this People."
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
afterwards sold to St. John's Church, Portsmouth, N. H., and although more than a hundred and fifty years old is still in use at the chapel services in that church.
At the regular Easter Meeting held April 1, 1771, the proprietors of St. Paul's Church voted to petition His Excellency Thomas Hutchin- son, governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and humbly request that the communion plate recently taken from King's Chapel, Boston, in exchange for a more elaborate service from King George the Third, " be given, granted and assigned " to the Church at Newburyport.
In answer to this petition a flagon inscribed with the words " The gift of K. William and Q. Mary to ye Rev'd Sam'l Myles for the use of their Maj'ties Chappel in New England 1694 " and a chalice bearing the inscription " Ex dono Johannis Milles 1693 " were sent to Mr. Bass and remained in possession of the parish until stolen, with other com- munion plate, in 1887.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War the inhabitants of New- bury and Newburyport were thoroughly aroused to the importance of the impending struggle, and fearing that the use of certain collects and prayers would seriously interfere with the work and influence of St. Paul's Church and possibly lead to serious results, the Wardens and Vestrymen, in a letter addressed to Rev. Mr. Bass, requested him to omit, at morning and evening service, all prayers, collects, or suffrages relating to the King, Royal Family, or Government of Great Britain.
Deeply impressed with the difficulties of the situation, and anxious to avoid criticism, Mr. Bass, after consultation with prominent members of the parish, considered it wise and prudent to comply with the request. The proposed changes were promptly made and the Book of Common Prayer, amended and temporarily revised, continued in uninterrupted use in the parish until long after the close of the war.
These alterations in the Prayer Book and the observance of days appointed by Congress for fasting and thanksgiving, ultimately led the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts to drop the name of Mr. Bass from the list of missionaries in its service in New Eng- land. Accused of giving aid and encouragement to the rebellious sub- jects of the King, he replied that in the discharge of his duties as minister he had only made such concessions as the exigencies of the case demanded.
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Edward Bays
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
It is not unreasonable to suppose that Mr. Bass, like many other clergymen, merchants, lawyers, and statesmen, living in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, was impressed with the idea that separation from England was undesirable, and he may have contemplated its possible accomplishment with considerable apprehension and anxiety, but there is no evidence that he sought by word or deed, in the pulpit or out of it, to oppose the wishes or restrict the rights and privileges of the ardent and zealous supporters of the Continental Congress. He abstained from personal controversy, resolutely refused to preach upon political topics, and was evidently undisturbed by troublesome dissensions in his parish, although Tristram Dalton, afterwards Senator to Congress from Massa- chusetts ; Rufus King, twice Minister plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James ; Patrick Tracy, an eminent merchant, zealous and patriotic ; Captain Thomas Thomas and Captain Nicholas Tracy, owners and commanders of successful privateers ; and many others who contributed in various ways to the support of the Colonial Government, were members of his congregation.
After the commencement of hostilities he was occasionally mis- represented and some times treated with indignity, but he was seldom irritated or annoyed by criticism or comment on his conduct and con- tinued his parochial work all through the war.
August 30, 1789, a letter signed by the Wardens and Vestrymen of St. Paul's Church was sent to the Episcopal churches in Massachusetts and New Hampshire requesting their cooperation in an effort to obtain a representation of the laity in the councils of the Church and asking them to elect lay delegates to attend the convention to be held in Phila- delphia September 29, 1789. This suggestion was not favorably received and most of the churches declined to take any action in regard to it, but the members of St. Paul's Church elected Hon. Tristram Dalton and Hon. Elbridge Gerry delegates to the convention, instructing them to insist on the proposed amendment of the Constitution and Canons of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America. Since that date the laity as well as the clergy have been represented in the General Con- vention and taken part in its deliberations.
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