USA > New York > Suffolk County > Southampton > The early history of Southampton, L. I., New York : with genealogies > Part 6
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" Jan. 5, 1665. James Herrick is agreed with to beat ye drum on ye Lord's Dayes according to cus- tome and is to have 20 sh per year for the same soe long as hee discharge ye office-the Towne paying for Drum Heads and Cordidg.
"Nov. 6, 1666. Ordered that each man shall set up a ladder by his chimney reaching to the top of 13
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his house. (The houses were usually two stories in front, always facing south, and one in rear-thus giving one short and one long roof-the ladder was placed on the long roof. So invariable was the custom of building their houses with the south, that one of unusual antiquity demolished only a few years since, was so erected on the south side of an east and west street with the kitchen actually front - ing the street.")
WITCHCRAFT.
"About 1683 Thomas Travally enters a com- plaint agst Edward Lacy for that the Defend. In- juriously called the Complainant's wife a witch and said that she set his corne on fire and sat upon his house in the night. A witch and that hee was hag- riden 3 nights by her ; and hee was Confident she was an old witch.
the charges to somons 010 To entering and withdrawing the
action to be paid by ye Deft 0 2 6 "
It does not appear from the records or otherwise that this delusion so prevalent in New England, ever seriously troubled the peace of Southampton. The case above recorded stands alone-the only intima- tion on record and in this matter tradition is equally silent.
CHAPTER VII.
THE CHURCH-MINISTERS-CHURCH EDIFICES-SCHOOLS.
THE church of Southampton as might be expect- ed from the character and associations of the settlers, was at first Independent. The earliest record con- cerning its formation that has come to the notice of the writer, is in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. In an account of the Rev. Hugh Peters of Salem, Mass., it is there stated that he attended the formation of a church at Lynn, composed of individuals who had emigrated from that place and settled on Long Island. This was in November, 1640. On the same occasion he assists in the ordination of Rev. Abraham Pierson as their Pastor. The church continued under this form of Independency until 1716. At least, the first evidence of a change of ecclesiastical connection (since the early records of the church are lost,) is found un- der the following circumstances :
It Sept. 1716, a call addressed to the Rev. Samuel Gelston was laid before the Presbytery of Philadel- phia, which was the only ecclesiastical body of that denomination in this country at that time, and had been organized about 1706. Doubtless the Rev. Joseph Whiting who at this time retired from active duty in the ministry, and who still lived among the
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people of his charge in Southampton till his death in 1723, assisted in leading the congregation to make this change of connection. In this call the congre- gation of Southampton promise " to subject them- selves to the Presbytery in the Lord." And here is also the first evidence of the adoption of the Pres- byterian form of government in the county of Suf- folk, though the church at Jamaica in Queen's County had long been Presbyterian, and indeed, has been proved to be the oldest church of that denom- ination in the United States." The Long Island Presbytery (being the first judicatory of that name in the province of New York) was set off from the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1716. It was organ- ized at Southampton, April 17th, 1717, and was composed of the following ministers ; Mr. Mackish of Jamaica, Mr. Phillips of Brookhaven, Mr. Pum- ry (Pomeroy) of Newtown, and Mr. Gelston of Southampton. The church of Southampton having thus united with the Presbyterian body has remained ever since in connection with the same. The re- formed church of Holland and Independency appear to have occupied almost the whole ground through- out New York for many years after the settlement. It is said that as late as 1664 there was not a single Episcopal church in the whole province.
1. ABRAHAM PIERSON.
The first Minister was the Rev. Abraham Pierson who came over from Lynn with his little flock ; and
* See History of the Pres. Church at Jamaica, L. I., by Rev. James M. Macdonald, D.D.
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subsequently in Nov., 1640, was ordained at Lynn as before narrated. Cotton Mather in his Magnalia says of him : "He was a Yorkshire man, and com- ing over to New England, he became a member of the church at Boston, but was afterwards employed towards the year 1640. Proceeding in their plantation, they called Mr. Pierson to go thither with them, who with seven or eight more of their company regularly incorporated themselves into the church state before going, the whole com- pany also entering at the same time with the advice of the Governor of Mass. Bay Colony, into a civil combination for maintaining government among themselves. Thus was then settled a church at Southampton under the paternal care of that wor- thy man, where he did with a laudible diligence un- dergo two of the three hard labors, teaching and governing, to make it become what Paradise was called, the Island of the Innocents. It was after- wards found necessary for this church to be divided -upon which occasion Mr. Pierson referring his case to council, his removal was directed into Bran- ford over upon the main [Ct] and Mr. Fordham came to serve and feed that part of the flock which was left at Southampton-but wherever he came, he shone. He left behind the character of a pious and prudent man and a true child of Abraham now lodged in Abraham's bosom."
He was graduated at the University of Cambridge in the year 1632, and having been ordained epis- copally, as it is supposed," he preached for some
* Thus Dr. Sprague, but the ordination according to Hist. and Gen. Register, was in 1640 at Lynn.
.
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years in England. He arrived in New England in 1639. The cause of his removal to Branford is thus given in Dr. Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit.
" Mr. Pierson agreed with John Davenport in wishing to rest all civil as well as ecclesiastical power in the church, and to allow none but church mem- bers to act in the choice of the officers of govern- ment, or to be eligible as such. Accordingly he was anxious that the little colony at Southampton should become connected with New Haven, as Southold had been, and was dissatisfied with the agreement in 1644, to come under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. He therefore removed in 1647 with a small part of his congregation to Branford, Conn. : and there uniting with others from Wethersfield, organized a new church, of which he was pastor about twenty-three years."
He afterward removed to Newark, and was the first pastor of what is now the first Presbyterian Church of that city.
He died on the ninth of August, 1678. His son, Rev. Abraham Pierson, was the first President of Yale College.
2. ROBERT FORDHAM.
The second pastor over this church was the Rev. Robert Fordham, concerning whom the earliest record of April, 1649, is as follows :
" The agreement between the towne of Southamp- ton and the reverend and well beloved servant of the Lord Mr. Fordham concerning his anuall
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mayntainance for his labor in ye worke of the Lord amongst us.
"Inaps wee the present inhabitants do ingage ourselves to pay in curant cuntry pay as it passeth at a common rate threescore pounds for this present year to beginne the first day of this present Aprill 1649, and to make our payments halfe yearly by equall portions, furthermore for the year to come & for all & every yeare God shall be pleased to continue Mr. Fordham amongst us after Aprill 1650 from the daye of ye revolution of first yeare above menconed, it is ffully agreed and hearby confirmed that the sayd yearly mayntainance shall be fourscore pounds .per annum to be levied upon every man accor- ding to their severall possessions of land in our plantation of Southampton and the bounds there- of.
"Lastly if fforty lotts shall not be filled, that then proportionable abatement of ye fourscore pounds is to be made according to the number that is de- ficient, in consideration whereof Mr. Fordham's owne Accommodations are not to be liable to pay any part of his yearly mayntanance nor yet any of his estate if the towne shall see cause to alter the waye of payment as concerning ye Ministry. This agreement was consented to by all the inhabit- ants, and by them appointed to be recorded in the towne book to be established in the behalfe of the whole towne."
He labored here in the ministry, according to the Manual of church membership issued in 1843, by Hugh N. Wilson, for twenty-six years, and died
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among the people to whom he ministered, in 1674, leaving a name honored among the churches.
3. JOHN HARRIMAN.
The next in succession was the Rev. John Har- riman, of whom the records are almost entirely si- Jent. He ministered as pastor, from 1675 to 1679, when he removed from the place. According to Dr. Leonard Bacon, (Historical Discourses) he was a native of New Haven, Ct., and was graduated at Harvard in 1667 ; and continued a resident of his native city for about twenty years, but out of this must be deducted four years for his pastorate in Southampton. During this time he is said to have preached as a candidate at New Haven, at Walling- ford and at East Haven. This may account for his long absences from Southampton which are noticed in the following record in the clerks office. It ap- pears that after his return to Connecticut he ad- dressed a letter to Thomas Cooper in which he dunned the church for some supposed arrearages in his salary. This letter having been presented in a town meeting, the following answer was voted : " Mr. Harriman was so long absent and the town paid so much for him which he himself promised to repay ; also considering the manifold inconveniences that he exposed the town unto, Mr. Harriman in equity ought [rather] to make the town compensa- tion than that they should pay him one penny for his last half year's pains among us."
4. JOSEPH TAYLOR.
Rev. Joseph Taylor was the son of Mr. John Taylor, of Cambridge, Mass., and was born in 1651.
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He graduated at Harvard in 1669, and was appoint- ed a tutor in that institution the following year. He then studied for the ministry, and was employed as a preacher in New Haven until the spring of 1679. The Rev. John Taylor buried in the South- end burying ground, must have been his brother.
" At a Town meeting Aprill Ist, 1679. By Major voat it is concluded that a man shall be chosen to goe over to Mr. Tayler ye minister, and to presente the Towne's former request by letter unto him, namely to come over to us and give us a visit and. if possible to prevaile with Mr. Tayler to come along with him ; which sd messenger is also to follow such Instructions as shall bee given him touching this occation.
" By Major voat Mr. Justice Topping is desired to be the man to go over on the aforesaid occation, namely to procure Mr. Tayler to give us a visit if possible as soon as may be."
Later in the same year we find the following record :
"Nov. 5, 1679. It is declared by a general voat, but one excepted of the towns that ye Rev. Mr. Joseph Tayler is the man they pitch upon and de- sire in the work of the ministry amongst us ac- cording to former voat of the Towne and endeavours put forth to procure him."
The call was accepted and he entered upon his labors, being installed as pastor of the church about 1680. (These records show that Mr. Harriman must have left certainly before April, 1679). The following is an abstract of the "agreement " for the 14
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temporal support of Mr. Taylor, dated March 22, 1680 :
1. To be paid to him £100 per annum raised in proportion to each man's estate. To be paid in winter wheat at 5 shillings per bushel or summer wheat at 3s per bushel or Indian corn at 2s. per bushel and sundry other products with prices at- tached.
2. The use of a Parsonage and four acres at- tached and privilege of a 150 of commonage.
3. One hundred acres of land in woods or com- mons to him and his heirs forever ; together with other four acres in fee and described.
4. To do a certain amount of fencing for him.
We cannot but take a just pride in this as in other evidences of our forefathers making a generous pro- vision for the wants of their ministers. They be- lieved the words of our Savior, that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and acted accordingly.
The labors of Mr. Taylor, however, were cut short by an early death on April 4th, 1682, in the thirty second year of his age. His tombstone still stands in the old burying ground, in the rear of the late Capt. James Post.
5. JOSEPH WHITING.
Mr. Whiting was the son of the Rev. Mr. Whi- ting, the first minister of Lynn, Mass. He was born April 6, 1641, graduated at Harvard in 1661, and assisted his father several years and was installed as his successor in 1679. He was twice married- first to Sarah, d. of Hon. Thomas Danforth, Deputy
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Governor of Mass., and president of Maine : and again to Rebecca, who died April 21, 1726.
On the 27th day of June, 1682, a committee were appointed to go to Lynn, Mass., to invite Mr. Whiting to come over and preach to the Southampton people on trial. It is not certain when he first came, nor when he was installed as pastor, but probably in the year 1683.
In 1686 we find an " agreement" with him in re- lation to his salary an abstract of which is here given.
1. £100 per annum to be paid in same manner as Mr. Taylor's.
2. Use of the Parsonage and four acres and a 150 of commonage.
3. If he continue till his decease, in the ministry in this' town, then his widow is to have from the town £100 in money and merchantable produce.
His labors in the ministry must have been accept- able to the people since he continued with them till the infirmities of age demanded a cessation of labor. His pastorate covered about 33 years, and his death occurred April 7th, 1723, in the 82nd year of his age. He sleeps among his flock in the old burying ground, and with them awaits his resurrection to eternal life.
6. SAMUEL GELSTON.
The coming of this minister as before noted, marks a change in the form of government of the church and in its ecclesiastical connection. From Webster's History of the Presbyterian Church in America we obtain the following account of him :
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" He was born in the north of Ireland, in 1692, and came as a probationer to New England in 1715. He was received in the fall under the care of the Philadelphia Presbytery, and was sent to the people of Kent on Delaware. Though desired to stay, he left without the consent of Presbytery, and went to Southampton on Long Island. There his brother Hugh resided ; he was called as colleague with the pastor, Joseph Whiting, and the congregation placed itself under the Presbytery's care. The Pres- bytery of Long Island on its organization, took him on trial, and ordained and installed him April 17th, 1717. His stay was about ten years ; and Aug. 27, 1728, he was received as a member of Newcastle Presbytery, and took into consideration a call to Newcastle. The next month he was called to New London, Chester County, Pennsylvania."
After many changes and wanderings and some trouble, he is said to have died Oct. 22, 1782, aged ninety ..
7. SILVANUS WHITE.
The seventh pastor was the Rev. Silvanus White. Webster says of him : "He was born in 1704. His father, Rev. Ebenezer White, came with his parents from England to Massachusetts at an early age, and was the minister of Bridgehampton, Long Island, from its first organization as a parish in 1695."*
May 27, 1695. The town voted to give him 15 acres of land if he came as Pastor of the church at Sagg.
* But Webster is incorrect as to one point-the grandfather of Rev. Ebenezer was the emigrant as appears in the family genealogy.
.
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" Hisson graduated at Harvard University in 1723, and was ordained by a council, November 17, 1727, pastor of the church of Southampton. He mar- ried Phebe, daughter of Hezekiah Howell of that town.
While in every town on the Island, there were confusions and divisions growing out of the Great Revival [1741-2] Southampton seems to have dwelt in peace, united in their minister. In the formation of Suffolk Presbytery, White and his venerable father took an active part, and Southampton prompt- ly and unanimously placed itself under its care, April 27, 1747. Bridgehampton was in circum- stances of great difficulty : a separation had oc- curred and much animosity existed. The presbytery ' treated with the venerable and aged minister to re- sign.' He consented to do so, and then on the set- tlement of Rev. James Brown, they spent much time at Mr. Job Parson's with the people of the separation on the point, whether they had not vio- lated the rules of the gospel in their treatment of Mr. White. 'Much seeming stiffness' appeared ; but at length sixteen men and twelve women signed an acknowledgment 'that, though according to their present light, they were right as to the cause, they were wrong in the manner.' The aged minis- ter signed a full humble avowal that under 'the sore and awful frown of a holy God, in a time of much disorder, temptation and provocation, he had spoken unadvisedly with his lips, and asked forgive- ness for having spoken to the disparagement of a work of grace, while intending to condemn what
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seemed fraught with evil.'" On the 3d of October he wrote to the Presbytery expressing his opinion that the separatists who had been received back had been treated with too much lenity. They replied : " the object of church government was edifica- tion, not destruction." Still, the separating party as a whole, must have persisted in their separa- tion for some time, for we find them soon after erecting a small church edifice in which Mr. Elisha Paine was installed pastor. This was known at that day as the "new-light" movement, and the organization was called the New Light Church. However, as the original actors in the separation dried off, none rose to fill their places-the organiza- tion dwindled, and finally about the close of the eighteenth century, whatever remnant remained was swept away in a great revival, and merged into the Presbyterian Church. The tomb stone of Mr. Paine Bears the following Epitaph :
In memory of the Rev | Mr. Elisha Paive V D M who | died Augst 26 A D 1775 Æ 83 | uas born upon Cape Cod | and from thence uith his | Hond Father Mr Elisha Paine Removed to Canterbury in | Connecticut where he prac- tised the law as an Attor. | uith great aprobation and Fidelity and untill 1742 | from thence became preach- er of ye Gospel and uas | Ordained ye first minister over ye congregational | church of Christ in this Place May 11 A D 1752 | Thenceforth he rests | from his labors.
Mr. Silvanus White "lived in uninterrupted health through a ministry of fifty-five years, and after a week's illness, died Oct. 22, 1782, his mind not enfeebled by age, and his hope strong and cheer- ful. He lived, honored and revered, happy in the
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affections of a large and warmly attached congrega- tion. He left seven sons and one daughter ; most of these lived to advanced age. They removed, but his son, Dr. Henry White, remained in his native town, and died there at the age of ninety in 1840."
Some further particulars of his family are given in another chapter.
Mr. White used to regard his people as his chil- dren and kept an eye upon the reading matter which fell into their hands. On one occasion hear- ing of a new book going the rounds, bearing the suspicious title of "The Devil on two Sticks," he took pains to ascertain where it was, and marched off at once to examine and confiscate it (politely of course) should it prove contraband of Church.
After the death of Mr. White, in 1782, it ap- pears there was a vacancy in the pulpit until 1784. During this interval the pulpit was supplied by Mr. Osias Eels, and Mr. James Eels, of whom nothing is known to the writer save their names. Doubt- less they are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and they themselves gone to their rest.
8. JOSHUA WILLIAMS.
The eighth pastor was the Rev. Joshua Williams. Of him Mr. Christopher Foster of Wickapogue has recorded : "This is to keep in remembrance that Mr. Williams was ordained May 26, 1785. Mr. Buel [of East Hampton] preached from 2 Cor. 5 : 14." He remained till 1789 and removed.
Another vacancy now occurred till 1792, during which period the pulpit was supplied by Messrs. Strong and Mills successively.
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9. HERMAN DAGGETT.
From Dr. Sprague's Annals the following account is taken :
He was born at Walpole, Mass , September 11, 1766. He was a son of Dr. Ebenezer Dagget, a highly respectable physician in his day, who was a brother of the Rev. Naphtali Daggett one of the Presidents of Yale College. The first ancestor of the family in this country was John Daggett, who, a few years after the settlement of Plymouth, came and took up his residence on the Island of Mar- tha's Vineyard-Dr. Daggett removed with his fam- ily from Walpole to Wrentham, when his son Her- man was a boy, and there continued in medical practice till his death, which occurred Feb. 26, 1782. The son was at his father's decease between fifteen and sixteen years of age. He had the repu- tation of being an amiable and discreet youth, and withal had an uncommon thirst for knowledge, Quickened however in his efforts, by his zeal for knowledge, he passed rapidly and successfully through his course preparatory to College, and be- came a member of Brown's University in 1784. His standing there as a scholar was highly respectable, and he graduated in 1788. In the second year of his college course, his mind, which had before been seriously directed by the influence of a christian education, became deeply impressed with the sub- ject of religion as a practical concern ; and it was to this period that he referred the commencement of his religious life. His ardor in literary pursuits, seems not to have been at all repressed by the
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change in his moral feelings, though all his faculties and attainments were from this time evidently con- secrated to the glory of God and the benefit of his fellow creatures. Shortly after his graduation he placed himself as a theological student under Dr. Emmons, who even at that early period, had ac- quired the reputation of being very learned in his profession. Having spent about a year in his preparatory studies, he was licensed to preach by the Association, holding its session at Northbridge, in October, 1789, and preached for the first time on the succeeding Sabbath in Dr. Emmon's pulpit. Within a short time after he was licensed, he visited Long Island with a view of being engaged as a preacher, thinking that the climate would prove more congenial to his health than that of New Eng- land. Here he was received with more than com- mon favor. For a year he supplied the Presbyterian congregation at Southold ; and though they gave him a unanimous call, yet being unwilling to prac- tise on the "Half-way Covenant,"* he felt con- strained to decline it. Thence he was called to preach at Southampton, where also he was unani- mously invited to the pastorship. This latter invi- tation after considerable hesitation, he accepted, and was set apart by the Presbytery to the pastoral office, April 12, 1792. On the 3d of September
* A very bad practice originated early in New England, (Records of Synod of Boston, 1662) of administering the rite of baptism to children of baptised persons who make no pretentions whatever to personal piety upon their " owning the covenant," though they neglected every other ordinance. This was called the "Half-way Covenant," and was productive of immense evil in the churches. 15
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following, Mr. Daggett was married to Sarah, daugh- ter of Col. Matthewson, a respectable and wealthy citizen of Providence, R. I. Mrs. Daggett was a lady of fine accomplishments and most exemplary character, and survived her husband many years. She died, having never had any children, November 20, 1843.
Mr. Daggett's continuance at Southampton was for less than four years. Almost immediately after his settlement, a difficulty arose between him and a part of his people on the subject of the " Half-way Covenant," (he being unwilling to practice on that principle,) which ultimately extended to many other churches, and was the principal, if not the entire cause, of his resigning his charge. He behaved with great moderation and dignity throughout the whole controversy, and his character for discretion was never impugned. It was a sufficient evidence that he came out of this controversy at Southampton unscathed, that, almost immediately after he was at liberty, he was called to the pastoral care of the church at West Hampton, a village in the immediate neighborhood of the one he had left. Here he con- tinued greatly respected and beloved by his people from September, 1797, to September, 1801, when he was dismissed chiefly on account of an inadequate support.
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