USA > New Hampshire > New Hampshire churches and the American Revolution > Part 4
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would tend to drive out Presbyterianisa, Brown added, cheerfully ;-
"If presbyterianism, as he calls the prevailing religion of the country, bo disposed to go off undi make room for its betters, let it go. But nobody his any thoughts of driving it away by force. Moreover, supposing the Episcopalians come to a majority in America, what of it? In that caso, if the colonists should be taxed for the support of bishops and for official tests, it would simply be by the wish of the majority".
Hot only wars such opinions as these hardly reassuring to a pecple jo lous to the last degree of its liberties in Church and State, but, says Cross, "they were not aven sanctioned - at least, not openly - oy the majority of' Brown's persuasion".
1. Digest of the Records of the S. P. G. p. 67.
2. Tiffany, Bist. of the Prot. Episcopal Church in U. S ... P.90.
3. Cross, The An ;lic in Episcopite ina tio mario in Colonies. 5151.
29-J
(6) The Orginization of New Hampshire Episcopali a.
In one sense of the word, New Hampshire Episcopalians had a strongly centralized orginization, for they were all under the fosterins cire of the
But the home society in london exerted, in reality, but little unifying; influence upon the Her Hampshire congregations. The only two organized churches ware separated by the entire width of the Province. In ourly uuys, somno means of communication were furatahed by Moses Budger anl other itinerante of the 3. 2. G. But Badger's withdrawal, in 1774, and Arthur Brown's death (1773) left Anna Cosait as the only clergyman of the Church of England who remained with his parish throughout the Revolution. The two other groups - at Portsmouth and Holderness - became completely isolated.
,
CHURCHES PLANTED WRING THE MID-COLONIAL PERIOD
A. The cuskars and their "deet in"" 51
(1) Their Organization in Hoa Hampshire official
(a) Few sources orazilible records available
(b) "Clue-must in," mon; How Hampshire Quakera
10) Their fow organized "Weetin's"
(d) The unorganized groups in 1776; earlier groups
(0) Summary of all the Bra ILapshire aukars
(2) The Story of nukerima in How Hampshire . 33
(a) Early History of the Dover mnakers
(b) Treatment accorded than by the authorities
(0) The fate of a Dover sloker
(a) Their relations to the community-at-largo
(0) Attitude of the ukers towirds church taxse
(2) Darth of ministers among New Hampshire ukers
(6) Their community of idous with the Cu kor Colonies
(n) Extra-provincial affiliations of these Groups
B. The Scotch-Irish Prosbyt orians . .
(1) The first church of Londonderry (th) E.st Parish)
(2) The Host Parish of Londonderry
(3) Rovorend Ble.zer thsolosk und the Church at D_rtmonth College
(4) Presbyterial Affiliations of New Hampshire Presbyterians
(a) The Grafton Presbytery
(b) Confusion in the name of the Presbyteries
(0) The Boston vs. the Londonderry Presbytery
Presbyterial Connections (tabular vios)
(5) Scarcity of original records; the principle of Independency
(6) Luck of cohesion mong llow Hampshire Presbyterian
(7) Why Presbyterianiam did not hold its own
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CHARTER THREE
CHURCHES PLANTED WIRING THS VID-COLONIAL PERIOD
A. The Friends, or " uckers"
(1) Anoir Or inization in Saw Hanshire
(a) The problem of ascertaining the exact number of muiker "meating3" in Sox Hampshire prior to, and during, the merican Ravolution, his prosentod almost inenperaole difficulties. The only official records printed are those 1
kept by the Dovar Monthly Meeting and these are merely vital statistics. In- formation in regard to the Dovor uakers is, however, fairly abundant; The "x" in our problem has been the various groups south of the Piscataqua. "ith but one exception, all of the Nos Hampshire towa, county, state, antemroh histories in the University of Chicago Libraries contain no references to the way in which this southern group was organized: our only definite clue was furnished by Little, who says that the Junkers at wears belonged to the Asbrook Monthly Meeting; and that, "to jether with Hunt on ani Kensington, they were within the limits of the 2
3 lms urterly Meeting".
(b) But Little's rom.ik proved of value chiefly as a point of departure. One might infer from his statement that thera wars organized "meetin.,3" of u kors both at Hunpt on nd Kensington - in addition to the Seabrook Monthly - miu that these three meetings were under the supervision of a tuurterly Kosting it sither salam, New Hampshire, or Julen, Massachusetts. It was not until we had ferreted out one of the fine-print footnotes in Jones' history of the luukors that we had the rint olus to an othersiso baffling situation. Jones says that the Salem
1. seules, Hist. of Straff. Co., p. 114. Ro says, "Their first monthly Hosting was established in 1702, and their records extend back to tast time. They are the best kept of any ancient records in Dover mnu have been carefully preserved". They have been published by the New H. Genealogical Society of Dover, ses Vols. 1, 2 and 3 of its Collections (The New R. Genealo is al Record) 2. Little, Eist. of Hours, Han H., p. 205.
* Those printed are only a small part of the Records.
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(Muss43hisatts ) Quarterly Jesting was ost blishod in 1705, and "was originAlly 1 (at newberry Library)
scmposed o2 B.lem, Marta, a Dover Monthly Meetings". And It required /hard 1
to harmonize Little im Jones, de shows that Little's "seubrook Monthly" wis ono and the same organization with Jones' "Hampton Monthly", is Seabrook was set of? from 2
Hampton (Fulle) in 1766, sz; the name of the meeting #is not changed a til 1793. This left fow, if any, mazars in Hampton, proper. Hurd also shows that Kensin;ton - another town set off Irm Emmoton - had no regularly organizod "Meeting", but that the group ut Rochester, nath of Dover, hild intermittent "Heetin's" with the consent 3
of the Dover Monthly.
(c) To hive, thes, out to Monthly Hestings" of quakers in Now Hampshire, prior to 1776 (Dover am Enptoa); al two other semi-organized groups ( Rochester and Weare). Our total estimate of four aker "Muetin;s" in New Hampshire, curing the Revolutionary period, is roughly corroborated by Theger's estimate of six Hostings there by the olose of the century. 4
(d) Besides tasse four leudin; groups, there were some four or five other sizeable groups in 1776, belonging to one or the other of the two Monthlles. 50 we hive some eight or nine definite groups which we can account for in 1776; but we feel that the four other groups, to each of which we find several references prior to 1776, deserve sme mention here. Then there are ten more sall r.ups for which we find only single references, scattered here and there.
(e) In order to zobilize the suiker forces in New Hampshire we will son- maarize the data given in the Appendix, as follows: 5
1. Jones, The makers in the American Colonies, p. 142, note 1 in his Chapter on "A New Typo of social Paligion". )
2. This sama group is referred to in the "meister of New K. For 1766" as the Friends ut Hamptoz Ziile. Collections of the New il. Hist. oc., 1. 281.
3. Hurd, Hist. of 202, at treff, Courtles, p. 223. He says of Zansington
that there were aite _ number of uiker families there, "but we do not log that they often held ating in Kensington".
4. Thuyor, Religious Conditions in Hew H. (1760-1800)." Granite "onthly, XLI (1909), 62.
5 For a revision of this section-based on Miss Butler's Thesis- see Supplementary hote p.37 (a)
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SUMMARY OF THE URKSRS IN NAM HAMPSHIRE see hote 5, p. 32 )
Marker "Mestin s" in 1776.
(1) Dover: huid both a Monthly and a quarterly "heet ing'.
(2) Hugot on; hid : Monthly Kesting.
(3) Rochester: had intermittent business " Hastings".
(S) set up a "preparitive Tasting' - 1776.
II. Other Groups in 1776.
(1) Kensington (2) 3Arrington (3) Epping (4) Ravie (Danville)
III. Groups referred to it orlier dites;
(1) Somersworth (2) Brentwood (3) Exatar (4) Durham - Lag.
IV. Scattered references to small groups!
(1) Hollis (2) Nottingham Test (3) Polham (4) Dow (5) Newton (6) Poplin (7) Richmond
(2) The Story of nakerism in For Hampshire
(a) In spite of the score of toms in which we find this sest, tha story of uikerism in New Hampshire be ina, and practically onda, with the Dover Society. They gained a footing there in 1662; And "oping; treated with severity, they rapidly increased until at one time they mambered a third of the inhabitants". They built two moeting-houses, und by 1708 hid established not only aMonthly, but a Quarterly 1 "Hoot ing". These people were visited by the itinerant Zu ker missioniries, John 2 Burayant and William Admaison, 3 airly as 1666 and 1575, and by Mary Thompkins and 3 Alice burton (from Old England) in 1667.
(b) There are some persecution mated out to the uskers in New Hampshire, the outstanding example of which is the whipping of four women through the streets 4 & 5
of Dover, Hampton and Salisbury. But the treatment accorded this soot by tho
1. Lawrence, The New M. Charones, p. S. 320.
2. Jones, The makers in the mar. Colonies, p. 118.
3. Sambora, The list of Men E., I, 68.
4. Stolpole in his Hist. of Ko: K., (Vol. I, pp. 67-71] gives a detailed account of this episode for which he blames Hassa.
5. Snow calls this the exception which proved the rule of toleration in Now H. (Eist. Address, p. 21).
* "The low H. Register for 1768 gives only four groups of "Friends", viz .: (1) Hampton Falls (2) Dover (3) somersworth (4) Newton, (see Collections of the New H. Hist. Jog., IX, 281. )
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uathorities wis, in general, umusually nild for those days - especially is comp.rod with the dolaful history of their persecutions in Massachusetts. " The volumes of the Ma: Hampshire St-to Papers and the New Hampshire Liws rovoal numerous instincos of where quaker groups, or individuals, were exempted from military service or from collecting church taxes, tukin; o.ths of office, etc.
1 In fast, we have not come across a single instance of where a petition presented by a unker individual, or sroup was not granted by the Council and House. This - in spite of the fact that any Makers would not ?"" as other surly settlers in defending their frontiers against the Indians. Belknap says of such that "they could not be persuaded to use any means for their defense, though equally exposed, with their neighbors, to 2 an enany who made no distinction between them".
(c) We have the case of John Hanson as an example of the above class. Zo lived on the outskirts of Dover in a spot quite remote from tom (and from any neighbors) And during the Indian troubles ho could not be persuaded to remove to a garrison, though he had a large family. One Sunday morning, while he and nis oldest daughter wers attending meeting a purty of thirteen Indians entered his house, killed and soilped two anall children, and took his wife, smail dubo, marse, two daughters and a son, All ctim. They sold them to the French in
Canada. It is some relief to find that after this aisister, Hanson moved the ramsinder (?) of his family to the house of his brother, who - though also a 3 asker - kopt his fire-arms in good order "for the purpose uf shooting gme" (!). This disgreot use of language illustrates one of the weaknesses of the juakers; 4 namely "quibbling", which is wall illustrated in the history of the uxker Colonies.
1. State Paners of New H., VIII, pp. 40 und 60 et al.
2. Beiknap, fist. of How H., I, 205.
3. Ibid., p. 205.
4. See Levin, "Religious Controversy as Affecting the American Revolution" in Imaricina () periodic 1), VIII (1913); Jiso Jones, The u kors in the imerio in Colonies, p. 557.
. That there was some Justification for this persecution, is seen by the fot thit uiker women sometimes went stark naked into the churches, or thro' the straets, "as a slim". (Folt, II, 324)
35
(d) But we would not do the New Hampshire Quakers justica, did we not call to mind the goodly number of them who took part in the expedition minst Louisberg (1745) and in the various other campaigns of the French Har - especially that of 1761. And, in addition to those who actually served in the militi., there wero almost an equal mmber who paid for substitutes to go in their stead. Thus, the rigors of frontier life practio ily forced the better part of the quakers to join the community in defending their farms and towns from the terrible Indian
1
raida of those e rly yours. But that they were sometimes a refractory and dis- turbin; element in the community, is shown by the following inst Ances;
"During Mr Hull's ministry at Cyster River (or Durhum) the miker woman Game over from Dover Neck ani __ ve him considerable trouble in his aun- day meetings. They would stand up "hon he was delivering his sermon, und contradict what he said and persist in arguing the question. On one occasion, one was so aiscourteous, not to say abusive, thit the deacons interfered wid ranoved her fron the meeting-house".
And in a petition to the General Assembly, in 1770, the Congregationilists of Barrington asked for permission to conduct their onuroh affairs independent of the town meeting; asserting that whenever a meeting was held to settle a minister, 3 certain makers, 'and other separators' cousod great confusion.
(9) The way in which Suckers helped to foment dissatisfaction against clearly
church taxation is cherty 'shown by the following,
"The Snikers (of Dover] invited their neighbors to come to their Meetin's "where they should haur excellent Pre chers who should pra ch to them freely without any Cost or Ch re not like their hirelig; "inister, who put them to great cost to maintain him': Upon this publication many, or most of the pirish deserted the minister and frequentou the quaker Meetings. But not long after the Contributions that the makers gathered in their Monthly und Suurtarly Ruesings for tho Travelling Friends of the Ministry were so frequent an rose so high that they fer exceeded what they were to pay their minister as the Law of the Country required; whoroupon they 4 generally concluded to dewort the usker Keet ings and return to their minister".
1. Tam Papirs of Ja. H., contain various peutions, exemptions, etc., which reveal the purt taken by the lunkers in the Indian Mars.
2. Solos, Mist, of straff, Co., p. 287.
3. Ibid., p. 381.
4. "(i) Journal of the Travels of the Reverend George Keith", in Collections of the Prot. Spis, Hist, Jog., I, 13.
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(1) £ Ono of the curious fuota regarding mukorism in New Hampshire is the grout dearth of ministers mon; thou. To do not find a single uiker prescher referred to during the Revolutioniry period. the only trices if such ir at an earlier period. In 1740, the Brentwood mkers built & house of worship, na Jamos 1 George Bown was their pre chor.
In 1702, tj Keith had discourse with several piker preachers at Hampton; one, 'a ship carpenter from Soituate , who spoke very isno- rantly's and ono, 'a noted Maker und Preacher of good repite belonging to their Vesting'. And of the Dover Meeting, ho s ys:"we heard their Preacher who was a 2 Taylor'. But in 1760, wa read of a maker wedding in Dover at which the two con- tracting parties united thoncolvos in marries, without the assistance of any minister or official - even to the extent of drafting their own wedding certifioito! 3 (8) In conclusion, we find that the makers of New ampshire formed a submorred group - the real history of which it is exceedingly difficult to present accurately. But they were, in a sense, part and parcel of the larger bodies of Luukera to the South; for, As Jones hus noted i-
" nuker missionaries visited every re ;ion, however remote, and they ware thus the bearers of ideas and deils "nich formed a comeon stock . . . so that the luuker it Dover, and the waker ut Sandwich were almost as mich aliko in inward tissue as they were outwirdly in cut of cout (!)".4
(h) This community of ideas w.s not the only tie which bound Now .. Hampshiro junkers to their brethren in other Colonies; for - as must have been noted - all the Makers which belonged to the Humpt on Monthly Meeting were, in tura, under the Sulen (Massachusetts) hurtarly iseting. £ so far 43 we can find any evidence, the two main groups of u.kcars in Mow Ampshire (Hampton and Dover) were more closely connected with extra -provincial organizations than thay ware
1. Hard, Hist. of Rock, and Straff. Counties, p. 223.
2. "(A) Journal of the Travele of the Rev. Geo. Keith" in Collections of the Prot. Epis, Hist. 200., I, 8-10.
Soules. Hist, of struff, Co., p. 169.
4. Jones, The ukers in the American Colonies, p. 140.
37
with such other. £ These were not LIl to tha sonth: for several strong groups of quakers had grown up in Mains - almost sumltaneously with those in New Hampshire. Tho Friends at Kittery - just across the Pisoataqua from Portsmouth ard Dover - "wero, in the surliest duys of their history, connected with the society at Dovar". Thus, in 1769, we find one of the uuker Meeting-houses bojin; romoved T fros Doyor Fock ami being set up in Kittery. Lithough all of the Now Mmpshire tiers belongod - in a sense- to the New England Yearly Moeting, there was, in 2
reality very little of corporate uity azon; them. Thus they formed not only a submerged, but also an incoherent nu Largely fsarticulate group within the Body Politic of New Empshire - particularly Jurin; the Revolutionary Poriod.
*
In a letter of November 15, 1924 from Professor 2. .. Kelsey of Haverford College, Pennsylvania ( an institution founded and still conducted by the friends of carica) ha s.ys: "I Zsol almost sure that the matter of tho hikers in How Hampshire has never baon worked out. Wacscript records samsaraing it would be in the fire-proof vault et Kosen Brown School, Providence, Rhode, Island".
We infer that the total member of adult male quakers in New Hampshire,
in 1776 was only about 200 - from the Following:
"More than one-olevonth of those to whom the fest was submitted failed to sigm it. This friction included soout 200 Makers of Brentwood, Gilminton, Kensington, Richmond, Rochester, and other towns". (See Siebert, Loyalist Refusves of a w Hampshire, p. 3). First
In Felt (Vol. II, p. 262) we learn that Junkers tut visited Now Hempshiro Ju darly J3 1653. "Capt, Thos. Bond brings 2 females, being Jiukers, from Jumica is Fissataqua. Being put on trial, ha pland ignorance of the law". Theo unkar men from Massa. also cum in 1669.
1. £ Stuckpole, Qld Kittery ind Hor Amilies, p. 207.
2. Lotter to R. Z. :. from Professor Rufus K. Jones, H.vorford College, Pennsylvania.
*In connection with the whipping of the 4 women , it is interesting to note that the Congregational minister was the nigger in the woodpile':" Priest Rayner called on Maj. Waldron to apply the Cart + Whip act - to free him from further danger of dispute".
Butler, The People of God called quakers in H.H. b. 8.
Supplementary late on the fuckers~ # 2.
In her thesis entitled, The People of God called Quakers in New Hampshire, Kiss Vera ". Butler of Columbia University has made a special study of the Dover and Terre Groups down to 1861. ne have also received a list of Quaker Meetings from Yr. Thus. J. Battey (of the Moses Brown School at Providence, E.I.) the custodian of the original manuscript records of the New England Yearly Meeting. On ac- count of Mise Cutler's having largely omitted the hampton Group fran her study, and on account of Mr. Battey's having included in his list a few meetings which were set up after 1776, it is impossible for us to check our list accurately by then. se cake no attempt to reconcile the discrepancies between these lists, but have simply arranged them for the purpose of general comparison, as follows ;-
(NOTE: Those towns are underscored which occur on any two of the three liste. A question mark follows those on only one list. Those in parentheses are outside of New Hampshire.)
*Sur Liet
Kiss Bitler's List
Vr. Battey's List"
(1) Dover Monthly
( Under Dover Monthly) 1. Lover
(Urder Dover Monthly) 1. Dover
(2) Hampton Monthly (including Sea-
2. Cocheco (Forth Dover)
(2. Pine Grove, Mass.) ?
(3. Berwick, L'e.)
3. Rochester
(3)
bro0%) Rochester Moore
5. Rochester
(5) . Gilmanton
(5) Kensington
6. Newtom
(6, Chestnut Hill, Mass. ) ?
(6) Barrington
7. Barrentom (?)
(7. Berwick, Ke.) 8. Oak Woods (?)
(7) Epping
8. Lee
(8) Hawke (Danville) 9. Sandwich (1782)
(9. Eliot, !! e.
{9) Somersworth
& Wolfeboro?
10. Sandwich North
(10) Brentwood
(Under Kam ton Monthly)
11. Sandwich South
(11) Exeter
10. Seabrook
12. rolftoro
(12) Durham
(11) Eoping
(13) Sandwich (12) Pittsfield
(14) Hollis
(13) Hemoton
(15) Nottingham Test ( Refused Artociation Test)
15. South Weare
(16) Felham
(14) Teare
16, North Teare
(17) DOW
(15) Unity
17. Unity
(18) Tertom
(16) Nottingham (?)
18. 1lenniker
(19) Poplin
(17) Kingston (?)
(20) Richmond 1
(18) Gilmanton
. (based on State (19) Kensington
Farers of New H, etc(20) Richmond
all A. p., pp. XIV-XVI)(21) Danville (Hawke) also
(19. Test Newberry, lase.) (or Jest Newbury ? 20. Seabrook * (Letter dated Feb. 26th, '25)
(Rochester & Hampton ,refused)
HUMANITARIAN ATTITUDES OF NEW H. QUAKERS.
In the book of disciplina adopted by the New England yearly meeting in 1785 one entire section is given to the question of slavery, beginning; "he fer- vently went all in profession with us that they be careful to avoid being in any way concerned in rearing the unrighteous profits of that iniquitous prac- tics of dealing in negroes and other slaves." (Ses p. 101) But as early as 1731 the Dover Meeting had drawn up a resolution discountenancing slavery, and in 1777, the Dover Meeting appointed a committee to wait on those quakers who held slaves and advise them to set them free. They succeeded in getting 7 quakers to liberate q Negroes (Butler, pp.75+76)
Was under the Belton, (Mass.) Monthly, - according to Miss Butter.
( Under Hampton Monthly)
13. Epping 14. Pittsfield
(4. Kittery, Ve.)
(4) . New Durham
(4)
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3. THE DOORCH-IRISH LESBYE-RIAM3
1. The First Church, of Londonderry (or the East Parish)
On April 12, 1719, under ware oak tree at the end of Beaver Pond, Reverend James MacGregore reiched the first sermon ever heard in Londonderry (than called lutfield) . This marked the be imin; of the first Presbyterian 2 Church in New England.
after but fifteen years this church had grown to 15.
cindy Devehil hundred communicants. £ These were recruited from the companies of
. scotob-Irish immigrants who begin settling in southeastern New Hampshire in 1719. ifter MacGregore's death, in 1732, they sent ome of their alders to scotland to secure a new Pastor. Reverend Thomas Thompson was engaged; and on the eve of his departure ho mas orduined by the Presbytery of Tyrone as "Pastor of tho colonial Church in Londonderry". Throughout the early history of the colonial Presbyterian church, it is noticeable that they 'imported' the majority of their ministers from Scotland or Ireland; And that they were University men - almost without exception. John Allen says of these man, "The founders of the Presbyterian Church in New 2 Hampshire ome hither for exactly the same purpose as did the first Furiting". This was the only Hoy Kummpshire church we know of which paid its minister a radily handsome salary: In 1740 is find these people paying Reverand willing Davidson 160 pounds por year (id audition to , 160 pound "settlement" during his first 3 year) whereas the Governor of the Coleny was receiving only 100 pounds per year. Also this is one of the few Presbyterian Churches of New England which has had an 4 unbroken history down to the present time.
.
1. Lawrence, Ine Nay H. Churches, p. 38.
2. Alden, "Ecclesiastical (Hist. of N;" H. )", in Stato Builders, p. 101.
3. Ibid., p. 40, footnote.
4. The present nens of this church is "the First Church in Derry": Darry Was set off from Londonderry in 1828.
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2. The Test Parish of Londonderry.
From an early date, this town was informally divided into the East and West parishes; but the people of both parishes sat under one and the same minister until the early part of Mr Davidson's pastorate. At that time divisions arose in both parishes which were reflected in the legislatura Act by which they were incorporated as separata parishes: i.e., it contained the proviso that forty families of sich parish might have permission to belong to the other parish than 1
the one in which they resided. "This liberty was improved". Shortly before
this act was passed, Reverend David MacGregore - whose father was the founder
of Londonderry - was called to the pistorate of the west parish. Re was settled in 1735 and - during the most of his life - was the leading Presbyterian minister
in New Hampshire. 2 The early religious divisions in Londonderry were reflected not only in the establishment of these two rival pastorates, but they were per- petuated in the Presbyserial affiliations of these ministers and in their attitude towards whitefield's preuching and the Great Awakening. MacGregors sided with this "New Light" movement and his church shared in the revival blessings of that period. 3 He was in Boston during the revival there, and returned home 'with a full purpose' to bring these blessings to his own church. He preached a series of sermens on the text: "Awake, thou that sleepest"; there mis 'a remarkable 4 Davidson and MaoGregore both cortimed as pastors
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