USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Bristol > Manual of the First Congregational Church, Bristol, R.I., 1687-1872 > Part 5
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Mr. Byfield was buried in the " Granary Burial Ground," near Park street Church. The tombstone has inscribed the Byfield Coat of Arms, with the name LYDE cut on the shield. The stone which marked Mr. Byfield's grave has long since disap- peared, and is supposed either to be destroyed or, in the changes made in the tomb, to be concealed from view. The following epitaph, the production of REV. MATHER BYLES, was inscribed :
" BYFIELD beneath in peaceful slumber lies ; BYFIELD the good, the active and the wise; His manly frame contained an equal mind; Faithful to God, and generous to mankind;
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High in his country's Honors long he stood, Succored distress and gave the hungry focd; In justice steady, in devotion warm, A loyal subject, and Patriot firm ;
Through every age his dauntless soul was tried : Great while he lived, but greater when he died."
MRS. DEBORAH BYFIELD, the wife of his youth and companion for about forty years, was the daugh- ter of CAPTAIN THOMAS CLARKE, of Boston. She united with the Church in Bristol, soon after its organi- zation, and tradition says, was one of the most valua- ble and useful of the female members, a fit associate and help-meet of her worthy husband. We regret that there are no records or materials from which a more extended notice can be given. As her decease occurred in 1717, several years. before his return to Boston, it is supposed that she was buried here in the Family Tomb on his farm ; but as her death is not recorded in the town books, it is possible that she died and was buried among her family friends in Boston.
MRS. SARAH BYFIELD, the beloved consort of his riper years, who died in Boston, 1730, December 21, was buried in the Burial Ground where his remains were afterwards placed by her side. The Weekly News Letter, No. 1405, of date December 29, 1730, gives the following notice of the funeral :
" Yesterday were buried here the Remains of that truly honorable and devout Gentlewoman MRS. SARAH BYFIELD amidst the affectionate Respects and lamentations of a numerous concourse. Before carrying out the Corpse a
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Funeral prayer was made by one of the Pastors of the Old Church to whose communion she belonged : which tho' a custom in the country towns is a singular instance in this place, but it's wished may prove a leading example to the general practice of so christian and decent a custom. The Pall was held up by the HON. THE LATE LIEUT. Gov. DUMMER with other gentlemen of his Majesty's Council. Among the mourning Relatives went HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR BELCHER, and HIS HONOUR LIEUT. GOV. TAILER, followed by a long train of persons of public dis- tinction and private character; paying their last offices to the Dead, and uniting their sincere condolence with the living,"
On the Sabbath following her decease and burial, her pastor, the REV. CHARLES CHAUNCY, D. D., preached a discourse from the text, James 4 : 14, on " Man's life considered under the similitude of a vapor," from which we make the following extracts :
" She had naturally a weak and tender Body, but a strong and noble soul; which being cultivated and en- riched by a good education and great industry rendered her truly amiable and desirable, and fitted her to be a blessing in the station Providence had assigned her.
" Her temper was lively and cheerful. yet far from light and vain : being well ballast by a singular discretion. In her most pleasant hours, she was never unfit to enter upon a serious subject, and always treated it with a becoming gravity and reverance.
" She had a good taste in conversation and was exceed- ingly well turned for it,> having a ready wit, a sprightly genius, an easy smooth way of expressing herself: and being able without stiffness or ostentation to be both en- tertaining and profitable.
" She was an honour to her sex, in her exemplary De- portment under all the various characters and relations of
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life : As a neighbor kind and pitiful : As a friend, true and hearty : As a wife tender and dufiful, engaging in her car- riage : reverent and respectful : As mistress in a family, discreet in her management, neat and cleanly, tho'tful of all under her care, indulgent and compassionate to her ser- vants, especially concerned about their souls, and frequent in teaching them the good knowledge of the Lord; in her treatment of strangers, hospitable; courteous, pleasant, observing and edifying to those that came to visit her.
" But her chief excellency and what most recommended to all that knew her was her undissembled piety. She had an habitual prevailing awe and reverence of God upon her heart, which early discovered itself and all along through the course of her life, not only in an utter abhor- rence of everything that savored of irreverance but in a due treatment of those things wherein the Divine honor is nearly concerned. She loved the House and sanctified the day of God and gave her constant, devout attendance on the public worship and all Gospel ordinances; paid a sin- gular regard to the Holy Scriptures; valued the Ministers of Religion; and had an universal regard to all good men. But above all Christ was the object of her love her faith, her hope. Him she embraced as the alone Redeemer of souls; Him she trusted with the great affair of her eternal salvation ; him she loved with her whole heart; Him she made it her care to please in all things; His image she was adorned with, and the graces of His Spirit she lived in the daily exercise of; And we charitably believe she is gone to be with Christ, which is best of all."*
BENJAMIN CHURCH, the third on the list of origi-
*For these memoranda of Mrs. Byfield, also items given in sketches of Mr. Byfield, we are indebted to a volume of Sermons in "the Prince Library," Boston, containing the two funeral discourses of Dr. Chauncy.
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nal members, is a prominent name in the early Colonial history.
He was a son of RICHARD CHURCH, who came to Massachusetts in the fleet with Gov. WINTHROP ; a carpenter by trade ; lived at Wessagusset (Wey- mouth,) and Plymouth, where he was admitted a freeman in 1633 ; married ELIZABETH, daughter of RICHARD WARREN, in 1636 ; was often a member of the "Grand Enquest," and frequently chosen as a Referee ; served as Sergeant in the Pequot war ; helped build the first Meeting House in Plymouth about 1637; was in Charlestown in 1653; but finally settled in Hingham, where he made his will 1668, December 25th, and died two days after at Dedham, leaving nine children.
He was born at Plymouth, in 1639, and was bred to his father's trade. 1667, December 26th, he mar- ried ALICE SOUTHWORTH, grand-daughter of the dis- tinguished wife of Gov. BRADFORD, second daughter of CONSTANT and ELIZABETH (COLLIER) SOUTHWORTH, of Duxbury, born in 1646. Their early married life was passed in Duxbury, though he temporarily re- sided in various parts of the Colony in the pur- suit of his vocation.
Less than six months after his father's death, 1669, June 1st, he received from the Court a grant of " land att Taunton River," which William Pabodie had taken up and then surrendered, "for full satis- faction for all the right his father Richard Church, deceased, hath to land in this Collonie." He was for many years in the almost constant employ of the 8
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Colony, on juries for the trial of both civil and crimi- nal cases, and was the Constable of Duxbury.
In 1674, influenced by the representations of Cap- tain John Almy, of Rhode Island, whose acquaint- ance he had made during a session of the Court at Plymouth, he visited the territory known then by the Indian names Pocasset and Sogkonate, now Little Compton, R. I., was pleased with it, made a pur- chase, settled a farm, and soon erected two build- ings upon it. This farm was in the north-west part of the town, near the east passage of Narragansett Bay. He was the first Englishman that settled here, " gained a good acquaintance with the Natives, got much into their favour, and was in a little time in great esteem among them."
During the following spring, while he was dili- gently employed on his farm, and hoping that his good success would be inviting unto other good men to become his neighbors, the rumor of a war between the English and Natives gave check to his peaceful projects. Being informed by Weetamoe and some of her chief men of the inimical intentions of PHILIP, the Sachem of Mount Hope, and receiving fuller intelligence of the same at a Great Dance given by Awashonks Squaw Sachem of the "Sogkonate" Indians, to which she had invited him, he immediately set out for Plymouth to apprise the Authorities there and take counsel with them respecting meas- ures to be taken in the emergency .. From this time until the close of Philip's war, he was employed in the service of the Colony. Distinguished for re-
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markable physical vigor and activity, exposed from childhood to the perils of Indians, and understanding thoroughly their mode of warfare, he rendered most valuable services as a military leader, and to him more than to any other man belongs the honor of bringing to a victorious close that bloodiest and most terrific of the Indian wars, known as King Philip's war. Late in life he dictated to his son, THOMAS CHURCH, EsQ., a narrative of this war and of later expeditions, which was published, passed through several editions, and is still the standard history of those times. He was at the head of the party by which KING PHILIP was slain in the swamp at the foot of Mount Hope, and by his skill and bravery a few days after, ANNOWAN, the last of Philip's great war chiefs, was taken captive. His surprise and capture of this warrior has been described as " an act of heroic boldness which has no parallel in modern times." His numerous and perilous adventures with the sav- ages in the region of Narragansett Bay and Cape Cod, read like a volume of romance. His success in these encounters inspired such confidence, that he . was subsequently charged with the command of five different expeditions against the Indians in Maine, with the rank of Major and afterwards of Colonel. In consequence of his long and bloody conflict with the savage Indians, he has been unjustly repre- sented as of a hard-hearted and cruel disposition. But he had a merciless and treacherous foe to con- tend with, and there remained no alternative but to meet them on their own ground and by their own
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acts of warfare, or suffer them to carry desolation and death in their most horrid forms through the scattered and feeble settlements of the white men. The historian of Fall River says, "In raising up such a man as BENJAMIN CHURCH for the defense of the Colonists, and in preserving his life amid the imminent perils to which he was subjected, the finger of Divine Providence was most signally manifested." Before the impartial historian this veteran of Indian warfare stands " as a man of integrity and piety, a benefactor to his country, and a friend to his race."
He was no less devout as a Christian than he was brave as a warrior. "I was ever sensible," he says, " of my own littleness and unfitness to be employed in such great services, but calling to mind that God is strong I endeavored to put all my confidence in Him, and by His almighty power was carried through every difficult action, and my desire is that His name may have all the praise." "I desire prayers that I may be enabled well to accomplish my spiritual war- fare and that I may be more than conqueror through Jesus Christ's loving me." In his home especially he was the devout and consistent Christian. He regu- larly maintained family worship, wherein he read, and often expounded the scriptures to his household. In the observance of the Sabbath and in attending the worship and ordinances of God in the Sanctuary he was exemplary.
After the close of Philip's war he removed to this town and cast in his lot with the first settlers. He purchased largely of the original proprietors and
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held for many years much landed estate. He built the house known as the "Old Talbee House," still standing, near the corner of Thames and Constitu- tion streets. He was frequently elected to offices of trust and served the town with marked fidelity and wisdom. He was public spirited and contributed with great liberality for the support of institutions of Religion and Education. He was several times chosen Deputy to represent the town at Plymouth, and in 1696 was representative at Boston. He had seven children, five sons and two daughters-several of whom were born in Bristol, and have descend- ants still living among us.
From Bristol he moved to Fall River and subse- quently to Little Compton, where he spent his last days on his farm. As years advanced he became uncomfortably corpulent in person. Being severely wounded by a fall from his horse, he sank under it and died. He was buried with military honors in the cemetery on the Common, where the visitor to- day may stand over his ashes and read how highly he was revered in the significant inscription upon his tomb stone. "Here lieth interred the body of the Honorable Colonel Benjamin Church, Esq., who de- parted this life Jan. 17, 1717-18, in the 78th year of his age."
High in esteem among the great he stood, His wisdom made him lovely, great and good. Though he be said to die he still survives Through future time his memory shall live."
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JOHN CARY, fifth on the list of members, emigra- ted from Bridgewater, Mass., to Bristol, among the earliest settlers, and established himself as a Brewer, residing on what is known as Malt house lane, deriv- ing its name doubtless from his business. He was the eldest son of JOHN CARY and ELIZABETH GOD- FREY, who came to Plymouth Colony in 1630. He ยท had ten brothers and sisters. His father was a man of superior education and had great influence in the colony and as an officer of the Church, and, tradition says, " he taught the first Latin school in the colony, and was very pious and public spirited."
On coming to Bristol, Mr. Cary at once took a prominent position in civil and ecclesiastical affairs, and was frequently elected to offices of trust. Soon after the organization of the Church he was chosen DEACON as an associate with DEACON BOSWORTH, which office he held to the day of his death. His family consisted of his wife ABIGAIL, and eleven children, seven of whom were born previous to coming to Bristol, and four of them here. Most of these grew up from childhood in the covenant rela- tion of baptism, and were worthy and exemplary members of the Church. Two of the sons were Deacons and the husband of one of the daughters, SAMUEL HOWLAND. He died and was buried in the ancient burying ground on the Common. An up- right stone was erected to his memory bearing the following inscription :
" Remember death. Here lies ye dust of DEACON JOHN CARY, a shining pattern of piety whose spirit returned to
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God that gave it July 14th, 1721, in ye 76th year of his age.
" A man of prayer, so willing to do good, His highest worth, who of us understood; Fear God, love Christ, help souls their work to mend, So like this saint fit for bliss without end."
Respecting the other constituent members we have only the briefest memoranda. NATHANIEL REY- NOLDS was the son of ROBERT REYNOLDS, of Water- town, Mass., in 1635, perhaps, born in England. He was by trade a shoemaker as was also his father. He lived a while in Boston, where he was admitted freeman in 1665, was a member of the Artiliery com- pany and commanded a company in King PHILIP's war under COLONEL CHURCH. He removed to Bris- tol among the first settlers and was an active and useful citizen, and an exemplary Christian. He died in the faith of the Redeemer at an advanced age, 1708, July 20.
HUGH WOODBURY was the son of WILLIAM WOOD- BURY, born in Salem, Mass., 1650, June 30. His wife was Mary, daughter of Thomas Dixey, and they had several children, but the name in this town has long been extinct. He was among the first who settled here and appears to have been a worthy citi- zen, respected and honored both in civil and eccle- siastical relations. He died 1702, April 17th, in the fifty-second year of his age.
WILLIAM THROOP, called " Goodman Throop " in the record, came from Barnstable in 1680, and was a son of WILLIAM THROOP, who came from Leyden ir.
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1640. Tradition says he was a very pious and godly man and highly respected, as were also his children, two of whom became. Deacons in the Church and filled that office for many years. He died 1704, December 4th.
NATHANIEL BOSWORTH was a son of DEACON BEN- JAMIN BOSWORTH and REBECCA STEVENS his wife, born in Hingham, Mass., in 1651. He first settled in Rehoboth, and removed to Bristol in 1680. His mother was killed by the Indians in the early part of King PHILIP's war. His family were numerous and many were their descendants. He was a cooper by trade and a fisherman, and tradition says he worked hand in hand with his associate, Deacon Cary, not only in the interests of their business, but in pro- moting the welfare of Zion which was their chief joy. He was chosen Deacon at the organization of the Church and continued in the office until his death, 1690, August 31st, in the vigor of early man- hood.
Such were the men, earnest, devoted, godly and highly esteemed, who gave the weight of their char- acter and influence to the foundations of our beloved Zion. We wonder not that such men in the Divine Providence drew around them and left behind them many others of kindred spirit. Every decade of our history has furnished those whose names are worthy of special commendation for their faith, their integrity, their shining example of Christian character.
But not the men alone were thus worthy. Though
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at the organization of the Church the fathers of the town only united, the mothers in Israel soon after joined them. In their humbler spheres they were equally faithful, and then, as in our later history and as in the almost universal history of Christ's Church in earth has been true of godly women, they contri- buted the largest share of christian graces to the Church life, and by far the brightest light, in its daily shining before the world.
SAMUEL LEE, D. D., FOUNDER AND FIRST PASTOR. HIS LIFE, MINISTRY, AND PUBLISHED WORKS.
MR. LEE was a son of MR. SAMUEL LEE, a wealthy and highly respected citizen of London, and was born in the year 1625. He early in life manifested a fondness for books, which his parents were pleased to gratify, sending him to the celebrated "St. Paul's School " to pursue his studies preparatory for college. Such was his proficiency here that in 1640, at the early age of fifteen years, he entered the University of Oxford, where he took and maintained high rank as a scholar, and in 1648, received the degree of Master of Arts. He was soon after settled in a Fellowship in Wadham College, and, having been a highly successful lecturer in Great St. Helen's Church in London, he was, in 1656, appointed Proc- tor of the University. These offices were well sus- tained, and gained for him the reputation among his contemporaries of being a man of very superior learning and moral worth.
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At the time of the famous "Bartholomew Act ". which deprived nearly two thousand clergymen of their parishes and pecuniary support, because of their dissent from some of the prescribed forms and cere- monies of the Established Church, his sympathies were heartily with the Dissenters, although he had himself no preferment to lose. After the death of the minister of a Non-Conformist Church in Hol- burn, London, which took place in 1667, he was associated in the pastorate of that Church with the celebrated REV. THEOPHILUS GALE. In September, 1679, we find him settled at Bignal near Bicester, in Oxfordshire, and he was afterwards, for several years, the Minister of an Independent Church, at Newington Green, near Bishopgate, in London.
After these years of distinguished service in the Ministry of Non-Conforming Churches, he was urged by BISHOP WILKINS to accept a living in the Estab- lished Church, and was strongly advised thereto by many of his friends. But his dissent from the cere- monies and usages of that Church was conscientious and hearty, and while he was liberal to concede to others their rights of conscience, he could not com- promise with his own conscience for the sake of any of the flattering advantages offered to the gratifying of a lofty ambition. This persistence in identifying himself with the weaker Non-Conformist party offended those who desired to avail themselves of his great talents and learning, and who felt that they had as it were a preemptive right to all distinguished personages in the Realm. For this offense he suf-
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fered much annoyance and petty persecutions at their hands. But the Non-Conformist party, grateful for his labors in their cause and for the strength of his name, rallied around him as a leader, and gave him the enthusiasm of their admiration.
At length, being apprehensive of a still further invasion of the rights of conscience, he resolved to migrate to New England, where he could, untram- meled, exercise the Gospel Ministry in accordance with his own sense of duty. This resolution was not made without a struggle, for he ardently loved his native land, was strongly attached to his numer- ous friends there, and having inherited from his father large real estate, his departure from England would involve much pecuniary loss. But, in spite of all that opposed, his resolution was made, and, with the clearest conviction that he was following the guiding hand of Providence, he sailed with his family and landed in Boston in the summer of the year 1686.
Of his reception in this country and his happy settlement in Bristol, an account has already been given.
On the accession of William to the throne of England, a change was inaugurated which promised greater tolerance and freedom to Dissenters. The heart of Mr. Lee yearned for his native land and the friends of former days, there to enjoy what a few years before had been denied him. Accordingly, to the regret of all who knew him, not only here but throughout New England, he decided to return. After an affectionate parting from his flock in Bristol,
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he embarked with his family on board the " Dolphin" at Boston. After a boisterous voyage, nearing the coast of Ireland they fell in with a French Priva- teer, were captured and carried prisoners into the port of St. Maloes, in France. After some deten- tion, his family were allowed to proceed to London, but he was still held as a prisoner. Depression of spirits, solitude and the rigors of winter induced the prison fever which soon terminated his valuable life in December, 1691, aged sixty-four years. Being denounced as a heretic, his body was interred with- out the walls of the city .*
Mysterious are the ways of Providence. Many of the Lord's chosen are called from the earth in the way of suffering Martyrdom ; his Church are left to mourn the loss of these precious ones of their num- ber. But, doubtless, heaven opens to these saints, with joys all the brighter because of their earthly tribulations, and in the triumphs of their faith, those left behind learn important lessons of trust in the darkest hours, and are animated to press forward in the march to final victory.
The Ministry of Mr. Lee in Bristol was very brief, though remarkably fruitful in good results. The Church received additions constantly, and there had been enrolled in its fellowship forty-eight persons. They continued harmonious in all their church re- lations, and were spiritually profited by the minis-
*Sprague's Annals. Allen's Biog. Dict. Dr. Shepard's Hist. Disc. etc.
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try of their beloved pastor. His was a Catholic spirit. His learning was united with charity and the poor were often relieved by his bounty. His toils, says tradition, out of the pulpit in visiting the sick and afflicted and administering the consolations of the Gospel, were continuous and faithful ; and his preaching was sound, able and eloquent. The fol- lowing passage from one of his sermons, preserved in the recollection of one of his people, has been handed down to the present day :
"Every breath we draw should go forth warm with anthens; the blood's circulation should run around in songs, and every pulse beat upon the strings of David's harp. The wholesome herb should cure our murmurs, and all the creatures of earth, air and water, should by us render a tribute of praise to God."
Mr. Lee kept up an acquaintance with other pas- tors, and by frequent interchange of views, strength- ened them in their work and was himself strengthened in his work. The following extracts from published letters, show how fraternal and cordial was this ministerial intercourse .*
The Rev. Joshua Moody, then associate pastor of the first Church in Boston, in a letter to Increase Mather, then on a visit to England, in 1688, says :
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" Mr. Lee is in Town (tho' going out to-morrow,) Wee spent the 2d instant in your study & had his compy part of the day with us where wee had (blessed be God) a good
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