Illustrations
The Old Brick Meeting House, 1713–1808
From an oil painting by John Rubens Smith, circa 1808, owned by William B. Osgood, Esq., of Boston.
The Reverend Charles Chauncy, D.D.
From an oil portrait by an unknown artist, owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The Reverend John Clarke, D.D.
From an oil portrait by Henry Sargent, owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Letter of Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, 1811
From the original in the Church Archives.
The Old Brick Meeting House and the Old State House
From an oil painting by J. B. Marston in 1801, owned by the Massachusetts Historical Society.
John Greenleaf of Quincy, Massachusetts
From an oil portrait reproduced in the Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family in 1806.
The Reverend William Emerson, A.M.
From a wax portrait owned by the Concord Free Public Library.
Receipt for the Burial Expenses of the Reverend William Emerson, 1811
From the original in the Church Archives.
Receipt of John Quincy Adams, 1818
From the original in the Church Archives.
Receipt of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1827
From the original in the Church Archives.
From a wax portrait owned by the First Church in Boston.
1 Later hand, i.e. p. 267. Refers to date of ordination.
2 i.e. one.
3 Later hand, probably by Thomas Foxcroft.
4 i.e. one.
5 Probably Snowsell. Cf. Town Records.
6 Here end the entries in the hand of James Penn begun in 1650. The entries from this point through the 26th of the 6th month, 1677, are in the hand of John Wiswell.
7 John, son of John and Mary Viall, born Sept. 14, 1642 (Town Records).
8 Dinah, daughter of Joseph and Mary Knight, born May 15, 1672 (Town Records).
9 Zaccheus, son of Samuel and Mary Bosworth, born Aug. 2, 1672 (Town Records).
10 Samuel, son of Thomas and Temperance Smith, born Aug. 23, 1672 (Town Records).
11 Moses Fiske (1642–1708) Harvard, 1662; settled Westfield, 1668–1671; Braintree (now Quincy), 1672–1708.
12 Cf. note 3.
13 John, son of James and Elizabeth Townsend, born Dec. 14, 1672 (Town Records).
14 William, son of Thomas and Mary Waller, born Dec. 20, 1672 (Town Records).
15 No daughter in Town Records.
16 Joseph, son of Jonathan and Mary Gatleife, born Feb. 15, 1672/3 (Town Records).
17 Susanna, daughter of Andrew and Mehetable Clarke, born Mar. 12, 1673 (Town Records).
18 Samuel, son of Samuel and Sarah Ruggles, born Oct. 1, 1672 (Town Records).
19 Susanna, daughter of Ambrose and Mary Dawse, born Jan. 11, 1673 (Town Records).
20 Ruth, daughter of John and Mary Kneeland, born July 30, 1673 (Town Records).
21 Deliverance, daughter of Ephraim and Sarah Turner, born Aug. 1, 1673 (Town Records).
22 i.e. abovesaid.
23 Nathaniel, son of Jeremiah and Sarah Belcher, born Oct. 27, 1673; Dorothy, daughter of Josiah and Ruth Belcher, born Oct. 28, 1673 (Town Records).
24 Martha, daughter of John and Sarah Starkey, born March 25, 1674 (Town Records).
25 Mary of Timothy and Experience Thornton, born April 2, 1674 (Town Records).
26 Joanna of Samuel and Joanna Ward, born March 24, 1674 (Town Records).
27 No Leverett recorded in Town Records in 1674. A Sarah of John Esq. and Sarah Leverett, born June 15, 1673 (Town Records).
28 Not in Town Records.
29 Jane of Philip and Rachel Squire, born June 9, 1674 (Town Records).
30 Solomon of William and Martha Smith, born July 9, 1674 (Town Records).
31 Ephraim, son of Ephraim and Alice Searle, born Nov. 4, 1674 (Town Records).
32 Anna, daughter of Richard and Anna Travis, born Oct. 2, 1674 (Town Records).
33 Joseph, son of George and Hannah Manning, born Nov. 6, 1674 (Town Records).
34 John, son of John and Judith Parmiter, born Nov. 17, 1674 (Town Records).
35 i.e. Chelsea.
36 None of these recorded in Town Records. Only 14 births recorded for 1675.
37 None of these recorded in Town Records. Only 14 births recorded for 1675.
38 None of these recorded in Town Records. Only 14 births recorded for 1675.
39 Later hand.
40 Ephraim of Henry and Judith Allen, born January 4, 1676 (Town Records).
41 William of John and Naomi Lowell, born January 3, 1676 (Town Records).
42 Later hand.
43 Probably 1676/77.
44 Joseph of John and Martha Saffin, born Jan. 24, 1676 (Town Records).
45 Not in Town Records.
46 Later hand.
47 Here end entries by Elder John Wiswell. He died in 1687, aged 86. Cf. Francis Jackson, History of the Early Settlement of Newton (Boston, 1854), p. 451.
48 Later hand.
49 Born May 11, 1680 (Town Records).
50 i.e. Isaac. Cf. Town Records.
51 Born September 14, 1680 (Town Records).
52 Later hand. See entry on p. [283]. Palti was the wife of John Dorrell (Town Records).
53 See above, p. 360.
54 Later note in the hand of Thomas Foxcroft.
55 Later hand.
56 A Joseph of Samuel and Mercy Bosworth, born July 22, 1677; Joseph of John and Mercy Rowlstone, born November 28, 1688 (Town Records). Apparently Mercy Bosworth married second Joseph Rowlstone and this Joseph was a son of the second marriage.
57 Struck through by an early hand.
58 Crossing out appears contemporary with entry.
59 John of Roger and Elizabeth Yellings, born August 30, 1680 (Town Records).
60 David of Roger and Elizabeth Yellings, born August 12, 1682 (Town Records).
61 i.e. years. Born December 2, 1684 (Town Records).
62 Elizabeth struck out.
63 Samuel, son of Richard and Mary White, born December 15, 1691 (Town Records).
64 Added by later hand.
65 i.e. grandchildren.
66 “Perhaps Mrs. Tu was a daughter of Mrs. Leatherland, or possibly Mrs. Leatherland had a daughter baptized the same day”—William S. Appleton in Boston Record Commissioners Report. (Boston, 1883), p. 205.
67 Struck through. But a Rachel of Zibron and Rachel Leatherland born July 30, 1692 (Town Records).
68 An Abigail of Thomas and Abigail Hatherly, born Sept. 8, 1670 (Town Records).
69 Later hand.
70 Aniball of Adam and Elizabeth Eve, born June 20, 1695 (Town Records). W. S. Appleton transcribed church records as Abiel Eves while Pulsifer left it blank. The last name is definitely Eves here but the first name is not decipherable beyond the third letter.
71 Later hand.
72 Later hand.
73 Later hand.
74 Later hand.
75 Mary of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Green, born Aug. 8, 1697 (Town Records).
76 Later hand.
77 Later hand.
78 Later hand.
79 Original entry read Cornelia. Struck out and Ellanor substituted by a later hand.
80 A silversmith’s daughter has been struck out and Daughter of John and Mary Coney substituted by a later hand.
81 Later entries.
82 Later entries.
83 Later entries.
84 Later entry.
85 Or Flagilla.
86 Later entry.
87 Brackets added later. Usher had returned from New Hampshire and was living in Mystic (i.e. Medford).
88 Silversmith’s daughter struck out and the above substituted by later hand.
89 Entered by Foxcroft.
90 Here Tay. Cf. Toy above. Brattle Square Church Records i.e. Mr. Coleman’s Church, have Tay.
91 June 4, 1721 admitted to Brattle Square Church. On Dec. 24, 1719 he had been married by Mr. Coleman (Brattle Square Church Records).
92 Later hand.
93 Birth not recorded. But John, Joseph, Samuel, Sarah and Hannah Marshall, the children of Sarah and John Marshall were baptized on the same day (12th day 6th month, 1655). (See p. 329.)
94 Nathanael in Town Records (Born Aug. 17, 1703).
95 Later hand.
96 Lidia struck through.
97 Later entry (Foxcroft).
98 Joseph, son of John Lothrop and Joanna, his wife, born May 28, 1709 (Town Records).
99 Not in Town Records.
100 John, son of James Gibson and Mary, his wife, born Aug. 3, 1710 (Town Records).
101 Elizabeth, daughter of John Welland and Elizabeth, his wife, born Aug. 27, 1710 (Town Records).
102 Jane, daughter of John Lorey and Mary, his wife, born Jan. 9, 1710 (Town Records).
103 The baptismal records of the Third Church have no entries after Feb. 24, 1706 until May 8, 1715.
104 [The following persons were baptized in Mr. Colman’s Church (Brattle Square). With the exception of Dorcas Collins, Thomas Palmer and Elizabeth Bill the entries are followed by O. C. i.e. Old Church. Those marked with asterisk do not appear on First Church Records.
- Martha of Robert Darby, Jan. 20, 1712.
- Samuel of Samuel Maxwell, March 2, 1712.
- Jane of Elisha Cook, Jr., March 9, 1712.
- Experience of John Ranger, March 16, 1712.
- Isaiah of Samuel Barret, April 6, 1712, by Mr. Wadsworth. Died Aug. 14, 1713.
- Joseph of Joseph Savel, April 13, 1712, by Mr. Bridge.
- Abigail of Mercy Atkins, June 8, 1712, by Mr. Bridge.
- Sarah of Mr. Dolbier, July 27, 1712.
- *Rebecca of Jonathan Williams, Aug. 10, 1712.
- [William]1 Peak of Elizabeth2 Peak, Aug. 31, 1712, by Mr. Bridge.
- Nathanael and Edward, twins, of Elizabeth Clark, Sept. 7, 1712.
- *Elizabeth of Sarah Bill, Sept. 14, 1712, by Mr. Wadsworth.
- *Mary of Rebecca Oliver, Nov. 23, 1712.
- *Dorcas Collins, an adult, Oct. 7, 1711.
- *Josiah of Dorcas Collins, aged 1 wk., Oct. 21, 1711.
- *Thomas of Thomas Palmer Esq., Dec. 9, 1711, by Mr. Wadsworth.
- *Isaac Jackson of Grace Jackson, Dec. 9, 1711, by Mr. Wadsworth.
- William of Martha Lackie, aged 1 wk., Jan 13, 1712.
- *James of Robert Rand, Nov. 23, 1712.
- *Richard of Priscilla Lovel, Nov. 23, 1712.
- Dorcas of Richard Brooks, Nov. 23, 1712.
- Elizabeth of John Orne, Nov. 30, 1712.
- Martha of John Shaw, Dec. 7, 1712, by Mr. Wadsworth.
- Samuel of Cornelius Thayr, Jan. 4, 1713, by Mr. Wadsworth.
- *Eben of Ebenezer Burgess, Jan. 4, 1713.
- *Samuel of Thomas Steel, Jan. 11, 1713, by Mr. Bridge.
- Mary of Samuel Bridgham, Jan. 11, 1713, by Mr. Bridge.
- James of Samuel Belnap, aged 1 wk., Jan. 18, 1713.
- William of Samuel Goff, Feb. 8, 1713.
- *Elizabeth of Elizabeth Willis, Feb. 8, 1713.
- *Sarah of Mary Fiske, April 26, 1713, by Mr. Wadsworth. (Brattle Square Church Records).]
105 Mary, daughter of John Corser and Sarah, his wife, born Oct. 1, 1711 (Town Records).
106 Later hand.
107 Not on Brattle Square Church Records.
108 Not on Brattle Square Church Records.
109 Brattle Square Church Records.
110 Martha in Brattle Square Church Records.
111 Samuel, son of Cornelius Thayer and Lydia, his wife, born Dec. 30, 1712 (Town Records). Also in Brattle Square Church Records.
112 Ebenezer, son of John Buckley and Mary, his wife, born July 12, 1714 (Town Records).
113 Not in Town Records.
114 Not in Town Records but children recorded for Samuel and Mary Bridgham in 1712 and 1716.
115 Struck over James by later hand but probably correct. Jonathan, son of Charles Deming and Sarah, his wife, born June 25, 1715 (Town Records).
116 Later entry.
117 Later entry.
118 Struck over Margaret by later hand. Children born to John and Martha Legg, 1711 and 1713 (Town Records).
119 Final r cut off by binder.
120 i.e. Second Parish, Roxbury, gathered in 1712; district originally known as Jamaica End.
121 Struck over John by later hand. A Samuel, son of Samuel Peck and Elizabeth, his wife, born Sept. 9, 1717 (Town Records) but the dates or the name of the mother do not correspond.
122 Later hand; William was probably not a church member.
123 Later hand.
124 Probably should read Oliver.
125 Later hand.
126 Struck over Elizabeth by a later hand.
127 These entries were made in a different hand, probably by Foxcroft.
128 Later hand.
129 Later hand.
130 i.e. p. (to be added)
131 Added at a later date by Foxcroft.
132 Added at a later date by foxcroft.
133 Added at a later date by foxcroft.
134 Later hand.
135 Struck over Elizabeth by a later hand.
136 These entries were made in a different hand, probably by Foxcroft.
137 Later hand.
138 Later hand.
139 Here end the records in the hand of Benjamin Wadsworth who became President of Harvard College in this year. From this point through 1761 the entries are in the hand of Thomas Foxcroft.
140 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
141 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
142 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
143 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
144 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
145 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
146 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
147 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
148 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
149 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
150 Struck over Pearce.
151 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
152 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
153 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
154 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
155 i.e. daughter.
156 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
157 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
158 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
159 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
160 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
161 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
162 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
163 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
164 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
165 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
166 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
167 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
168 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
169 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
170 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
171 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
172 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
173 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
174 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
175 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
176 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
177 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
178 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
179 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
180 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
181 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
182 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
183 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
184 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
185 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
186 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
187 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
188 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
189 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
190 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
191 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
192 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
193 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
194 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
195 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
196 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
197 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
198 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
199 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
200 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
201 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
202 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
203 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
204 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
205 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
206 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
207 Town Records.
208 Town Records
209 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
210 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
211 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
212 Births not recorded in Town Records.
213 Births not recorded in Town Records.
214 Births not recorded in Town Records.
215 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
216 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
217 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
218 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
219 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
220 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
221 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
222 Not in Town Records.
223 Not in Town Records.
224 Not in Town Records.
225 Ebenezer, son of Ebenezer and Rebekah Williston, born April 14, 1735 (Town Records).
226 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
227 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
228 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
229 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
230 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
231 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
232 Changed from Meriel in same hand but different ink.
233 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
234 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
235 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
236 Minister, Providence, R. I., 1728–1747; Woburn, Mass., 1747–1756; Landown, N. H., 1759–1780.
237 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
238 Town Records.
239 Birth not in Town Records.
240 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
241 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
242 Thomas, son of Benjamin and Mary Emmons, born March 6, 1738 (Town Records).
243 Two baptisms seem to have been indicated here.
244 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
245 Birth not in Town Records.
246 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
247 Samuel, son of John and Elizabeth Daniel, born Oct. 31, 1740 (Town Records).
248 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
249 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
250 The only Mercy recorded in the Town Records for 1741 is Mercy, daughter of John and Mercy Scolley, Sept. 11, 1741.
251 Birth not in Town Records.
252 Perhaps no baptism actually took place on this date.
253 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
254 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
255 Birth not in Town Records.
256 Birth not in Town Records.
257 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
258 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
259 i.e. son.
260 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
261 William, son is struck out; Mary, daughter added in different ink but by same hand.
262 Italicized words with asterisks were added later in same hand.
263 Birth not in Town Records.
264 Mary, daughter of Joshua Blanchard and Elizabeth, his wife, born July 19, 1754 (Town Records).
265 Birth not in Town Records.
266 Thomas, son of Ebenezer Dogget and Elizabeth, his wife, born Dec. 19, 1756 (Town Records).
267 Birth not in Town Records.
268 Birth not in Town Records.
269 Birth not in Town Records.
270 i.e. At home by Dr. Chauncy.
271 ægrotus, i.e. sick.
272 Page badly torn. Thomas, son of Joshua Blanchard and Elizabeth, his wife, born Oct. 2, 1761 (Town Records).
273 Here end entries by Thomas Foxcroft; from this point through 1778, entries were made by Charles Chauncy.
274 Page torn.
275 i.e. At home by Dr. Chauncy; sick.
276 Edge of sheet badly worn; possibly another entry at bottom of page.
277 Elizabeth (?) Rachel not on Boston Birth Records but Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Powers and Elizabeth, his wife, was born Jan. 13, 1761 (Town Records).
278 Lucy, daughter of Josiah Carter and Mary, his wife, born Sept. 5, 1765 (Town Records).
279 Elizabeth (?) Cf. p. 423.
280 Thomas Bradford, son of Josiah Carter and Mary, his wife, born Mar. 14, 1767 (Town Records).
281 Edge of leaf badly worn. Asterisk, perhaps refers to a name at the bottom of the page which is too badly torn to decipher.
282 Page torn.
283 Not on Boston Birth Records for 1768.
284 Nabby, daughter of Cuthbert Inglesby and Abigail his wife, born Jan. 24, 1769 (Town Records).
285 Timothy, son of Timothy White and Elizabeth, his wife, born March 28, 1769 (Town Records).
286 Another Rachel Powers baptized Sept. 9, 1764 (Cf. p. 424).
287 Jonathan, son of Jonathan Houghton and Mary, his wife, born Jan. 7, 1770 (Town Records).
288 Not in Boston Birth Records for 1770.
289 John Foster, son of Israel and Mary Loring, born Nov. 10, 1770 (Town Records).
290 Edge of sheet too badly worn to decipher.
291 James, son of Jonathan Houghton and Mary, his wife, born July 9, 1777 (Town Records).
292 Here end entries by Charles Chauncy begun in 1762; from this point through July 14, 1793 entries were made by John Clarke.
293 See below, p. 427.
294 James Trecothick, son of Jonathan L. and Hannah, his wife, born Jan. 10, 1784 (Town Records).
295 Thomas, son of Jonathan Houghton and Mary (dec’d) his wife, born Oct. 25, 1784 (Town Records).
296 Charles Hill, son of Abraham and Mary Hunt, his wife, born Jan. 28, 1780 (Town Records).
297 Sally, daughter of Jonathan Houghton and Mary, his wife, born Sept. 8, 1786 (Town Records).
298 Peggy, daughter of Edmund Wright and Mary, his wife, born March 23, 1791 (Town Records).
299 Probably Marianne.
300 Ann (?) Cf. entry for June 17, 1792.
301 Here end entries by John Clarke begun in 1778; the next entries are in the hand of Deacon David Tilden until January 6, 1799 when William Emerson began the record.
302 Minister, Second Church, 1768–1816.
303 Susannah, daughter of Ozias Morse and Lucy, his wife, born Nov. 24, 1798 (Town Records).
304 Jedediah Morse, D.D., minister in Charlestown, 1789–1820.
305 Eliphalet Porter, D.D., minister in Roxbury, 1782–1833.
306 Peter Thacher, D.D., minister, Brattle Square Church, 1785–1802.
307 Became minister of First Church in 1799.
308 Added by later hand.
309 Alden Bradford (1765–1843) Harvard, 1786; minister, East Pownalborough, Maine, 1793–1801; Secretary of State in Massachusetts, 1812–1824.
310 John Mellen (1752–1828) Harvard, 1770; tutor in Harvard College, 1780–1783; minister, Barnstable, 1783–1800; left because of wife’s health and removed to Cambridge; became totally blind; member of Massachusetts Historical Society, 1792–1828. Cf. Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings I, 420–421.
311 Sarah struck over.
312 Israel struck over.
313 Obviously Susannah.
314 Susan Powell added in later hand.
315 Abigail (Town Records).
316 Susan Powell substituted for Ann, his wife, by later hand.
317 Abraham Gibson married March 3, 1805 Mrs. Sarah Norcross Spurr.
318 i.e. p. 172–173.
319 Susannah or Susan.
320 Andrew LeMercier (c. 1692–1764) French Huguenot; educated at University of Geneva; minister, French Protestant Church in Boston, 1715–1748; resided, Dorchester, 1722–1764.
321 Benjamin and Rebekah Smallege had Martha, born Dec. 2, 1722 (Town Records).
322 Should read Ebenezer. Cf. D. R. Lowell. Genealogy of Lowells of America. Rutland, 1899, p. 18.
323 A pencil note of much later date substitutes Susan.
324 Sally struck over.
325 Probably Maria.
326 Here end the entries in the hand of William Emerson who died May 12, 1811.
327 Ezra Ripley, D.D. (1751–1841) Harvard, 1776; minister, Concord, Massachusetts, 1778–1841. His wife was the mother of Rev. William Emerson, minister of the First Church, 1799–1811.
328 John Thornton Kirkland, D.D., LL.D. (1770–1840) Harvard, 1789; minister, New South Church in Boston, 1794–1810; president, Harvard University, 1810–1828.
329 See above, p. 433.
330 Henry Ware, S.T.D. (1764–1845) Harvard, 1785; minister, First Parish, Hingham, 1787–1805; Hollis Professor of Divinity, Harvard University, 1805–1840; and emeritus, 1840–1845.
331 John Simpkins (1768–1843) Harvard, 1786; minister, Brewster, 1791–1831.
332 Horace Holley, LL.D. (1781–1827) Yale, 1803; minister, Hollis Street Church in Boston, 1809–1818; president of Transylvania University, 1818–1827.
333 John Pierce, D.D. (1773–1849) Harvard, 1793; minister, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1797–1849.
334 Henry Coleman (1785–1849) minister, Second Church in Hingham, Massachusetts, 1807–1820; Salem, 1825–1831; later Agricultural Commissioner for Massachusetts.
335 Joseph Tuckerman, D.D. (1778–1840) Harvard, 17985; minister, Chelsea, Massachusetts, 1801–18265; minister-at-large in Boston, 1826–1840.
336 Joseph McKean, D.D. (1776–1818) Harvard, 17945; minister, Milton, Massachusetts, 1797–1804; Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, Harvard University, 1809–1818.
337 Thomas Gray, D.D. (1772–1847) Harvard, 1790; minister, Jamaica Plain, 1792–1847.
338 Perhaps Elisha Fisk (1769–1851) Brown, 1795; minister, Wrentham, 1799–1851.
339 Samuel Cooper Thacher (1785–1817) Harvard, 1804; minister, New South Church in Boston, 1811–1817.
340 i.e. John Lovejoy Abbot.
341 William Ellery Channing, D.D. (1780–1842) Harvard, 17985 minister, Federal Street Church in Boston, 1803–1842.
342 Entries beginning at this point are by N. L. Frothingham.
343 Abiel Holmes, D.D. (1763–1837) Yale, 1783; minister, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1792–1837.
344 Thomas Prentiss (1793–1817) Harvard, 1811; minister, Second Church, Charlestown, 1817. Son of Thomas Prentiss, D.D. (1747–1814) of Medfield.
345 John Prince, LL.D. (1751–1836) Harvard, 1776; minister, First Church in Salem, 1779–1836.
346 i.e. daughter.
347 Loose Memorandum sheet in records. The baptisms have been entered in the book but not the names of the officiating clergyman. Dr. Frothingham was in Europe for a year. His manuscript journal of this tour is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
348 Loose Memorandum sheet in records. The baptisms have been entered in the book but not the names of the officiating clergyman. Dr. Frothingham was in Europe for a year. His manuscript journal of this tour is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
349 Loose Memorandum sheet in records. The baptisms have been entered in the book but not the names of the officiating clergyman. Dr. Frothingham was in Europe for a year. His manuscript journal of this tour is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
350 Loose Memorandum sheet in records. The baptisms have been entered in the book but not the names of the officiating clergyman. Dr. Frothingham was in Europe for a year. His manuscript journal of this tour is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
351 Loose Memorandum sheet in records. The baptisms have been entered in the book but not the names of the officiating clergyman. Dr. Frothingham was in Europe for a year. His manuscript journal of this tour is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
352 Loose Memorandum sheet in records. The baptisms have been entered in the book but not the names of the officiating clergyman. Dr. Frothingham was in Europe for a year. His manuscript journal of this tour is in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
353 The Boston Female Asylum for Orphan Children was founded in 1800 and incorporated in 1803. Its original house was in Lincoln Street but in 1846 it removed to a spacious edifice at 1008 Washington Street. Although the Society has not maintained an orphanage since 1910, the organization has continued successively as the Boston Society for the Care of Girls, the Children’s Aid Association, and the Boston Children’s Service Association.
354 Georgiana. Cf. New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xi. 272.
355 Phillips Brooks (1835–1893) Harvard, 1855; rector, Trinity Church, Boston, 1869–1891; bishop of Massachusetts, 1891–1893.
356 Henry Brooks Adams was born Feb. 16, 1838 and was “christened later by his uncle, the minister of the First Church.” Cf. The Education of Henry Adams, p. 3.
357 The farm, situated in what was later known as North Chelsea and Winthrop, comprised upward of three hundred acres about half of which was salt marsh. It belonged in the Sale family for many years and was finally released from its entailment to the First Church by a deed of Rufus Ellis, elder, and George O. Harris, deacon, on April 30, 1866 in consideration of the sum of six hundred dollars. The transfer was authorized by a special Resolve of the General Court on April 12, 1866.
358 Ebenezer Thayer (1689–1733) Harvard, 1708; minister, West Roxbury, 1712–1730.
359 Jonathan Pierpont (1695–1758) Harvard, 1714; preached in Dunstable, Cohasset, Wrentham, Falmouth, Maine, Brunswick, Hampton Fall, New Hampshire and elsewhere but never settled; schoolmaster in Manchester, Massachusetts, 1729 and Amesbury c. 1746; practised medicine in Newbury after 1746 for some years but died in Hampstead, New Hampshire. Sibley, vi. 69–71.
360 Benjamin Webb (1695–1746) Harvard, 1715; minister, Eastham, 1720–1746.
361 Stephen Williams, D.D. (1693–1782) Harvard, 1713; minister, Longmeadow, 1714–1782. Established Indian Mission at Stockbridge.
362 Henry Messenger (1695–1750) Harvard, 1717; minister, Wrentham, 1719–1750.
363 Cf. p. 145.
364 Samuel Payson (1692/3–1768) Harvard, 1716; Schoolmaster in Rowley, c. 1722–1757; frequently preached but never ordained.
365 Nathanael Cotton (1698–1729) Harvard, 1717; minister, Bristol, Rhode Island, 1721–1729.
366 Hull Abbot (1702–1774) Harvard, 1720; minister, Charlestown, 1724–1774.
367 William Sheaffe (1705/6–1771) Harvard, 1723; office of the Collector of Boston Port, 1731–1771.
368 Nathaniel Davies (1705/6–1730/1) Harvard, 1724.
369 Isaac Abbot (1699–1784) Harvard, 1723; tavern keeper in Andover, Massachusetts.
370 Josiah Cotton (1703–1780) Harvard, 1722; minister, Woburn, Massachusetts, 1747–1756; Sandown, New Hampshire, 1756–1780.
371 Samuel Dunbar (1704–1783) Harvard, 1723; minister, Canton, Massachusetts, 1727–1783.
372 i.e. Nathaniel Davies.
373 Nathan Webb (1705–1772) Harvard, 1725; minister, Uxbridge, Massachusetts, 1731–1772.
374 Probably Ward Cotton (1711–1768) Harvard, 1729; minister, Hampton, New Hampshire, 1734–1765. Son of Rev. Roland and Elizabeth (Saltonstall) Cotton.
375 Nathaniel Walter (1711–1776) Harvard, 1729; minister, West Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1734–1776. His father, Nehemiah, was minister in Roxbury, 1688–1750.
376 Ward Cotton (1711–1768) Harvard, 1729. See above.
377 Christopher Bridge (1712–c. 1740) Harvard, 1733; became Episcopalian and went to England in 1736 with Charles Wesley; settled in Jamaica. Son of Rev. Christopher Bridge, Queens Lecturer, Kings Chapel in Boston, 1699–1706.
378 Nathaniel Gardner (1719–1760) Harvard, 1739; preached in Worcester and Carver but not settled; usher, South Grammar School in Boston, 1750–1760.
379 John Brown (1723–1791) Harvard, 1741; minister, Cohasset, Massachusetts, 1747–1791. Son of Rev. John and Johanna (Cotton) Brown.
380 Cotton Brown (1726/7–1751) Harvard, 1743; minister, Brookline, Massachusetts, 1748–1751.
381 Samuel Turell (died 1750) Harvard, 1745.
382 Sons of Rev. Daniel Perkins (1697–1782); minister, West Bridgewater, 1721–1782, who married for his second wife, Mrs. Mary Hancock, mother of John Hancock. One son, Richard (1729/30–1813), a physician, graduated from Harvard in 1748; another son, Daniel, born 1727 died December 27, 1745. Cf. Sibley, v1. 208–211.
383 Ward Brown (died 1748) Harvard, 1748.
384 John Adams (1725–1792) Harvard, 1745; minister, Durham, New Hampshire, 1748–1778; physician in Newfield, Maine.
385 Thomas Foxcroft, Jr. (1732–?), did not graduate from Harvard; living 1762.
386 Joseph Manning (1730/1–1808) Harvard, 1751; settled, Bath, Maine.
387 John Willard, D.D. (1733–1807) Harvard, 1751; minister, Stafford, Connecticut, 1757–1807.
388 Ebenezer Thayer (1734–1792) Harvard, 1753; tutor, 1760–1766; minister, Hampton, New Hampshire, 1766–1792.
389 Samuel Foxcroft (1735–1807) Harvard, 1754; minister, New Gloucester, Maine, 1765–1793.
390 Williams Bradford (c. 1741–1801) Harvard, 1760. Not a clergyman; loyalist; subsequently officer under the British Crown at the Bahamas.
391 Christopher Bridge Marsh (1743–1773) Harvard, 1761; minister, North Church, Newburyport, 1768–1773.
392 Nathan Stone (1737–1804) Harvard, 1762; minister, Dennis, 1764–1804.
393 Thomas Abbot (1745–1789) Harvard, 1764; minister, West Roxbury, 1773–1783.
394 John Tompson (1740–1828) Harvard, 1765; minister, Standish, Maine, 1768–1783; South Berwick, 1783–1828.
395 Andrew Eliot Thayer (1783–1846) Harvard, 1803; died in Nashua, New Hampshire. Son of Rev. Ebenezer Thayer, Hampton, New Hampshire.
396 Samuel Ripley (1783–1847) Harvard, 1804; minister, Waltham and Lincoln. Son of Ezra Ripley, D.D., of Concord.
397 Daniel Bliss Ripley (1784–1825) Harvard, 1805. Son of Ezra Ripley, D.D., of Concord; lawyer in Alabama.
398 Ebenezer Hubbard (1783–1858) Harvard, 1805; minister, Newbury, 1811; Middleton, 1816–1828; Lunenburg thereafter. Suffered as the result of the liberality of his theological views and outspoken preaching.
399 William Smith (1788–1811) Harvard, 1807.
400 Benjamin Willard (1789–1856) Harvard, 1809; teacher and lawyer, Parkersburg, West Virginia.
401 John Hay Farnham (1791–1833) Harvard, 1811; lawyer, Salem, Indiana.
402 Rufus Hurlbut (1787–1839) Harvard, 1813; minister, Sudbury, 1817–1839.
403 Samuel Hunt (1777–1834) Harvard, 1796, M.B., 1800 and M.D., 1811; physician, changed name to John Dixwell.
404 William Emerson (1801–1868) Harvard, 1818; studied theology in Germany; lawyer, New York City. Son of Rev. William Emerson.
405 Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) Harvard, 1821; minister, Second Church, Boston, 1829–1831. Author and lecturer. Son of Rev. William Emerson.
406 Edward Bliss Emerson (1805–1834) Harvard, 1834; studied law with Daniel Webster. Son of Rev. William Emerson.
407 Charles Chauncy Emerson (1808–1836) Harvard, 1828; lawyer. Son of Rev. William Emerson.
408 Charles Hastings Allen (1809–1886) Harvard, 1831; physician. Grandson of Deacon James Morrill.
409 John Clarke Allen (1812–1834) Harvard, 1833. Grandson of Deacon James Morrill.
410 David Henry Thoreau or Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) Harvard, 1837. Author.
411 Nathaniel Glover Allen (1816–1889) Harvard, 1842; General Theological Seminary; Episcopal clergyman. Grandson of Deacon James Morrill.
412 Thomas Hill (1818–1891) Harvard, 1843; Divinity School, 1845; minister, Waltham, 1845–1860; president, Antioch College, 1860–1862; and Harvard University, 1862–1868; minister, Portland, Maine, 1873–1891.
413 Charles Short (1821–1886) Harvard, 1846; Professor of Philosophy and President, Kenyon College, 1863–1867; Professor of Latin, Columbia University, 1867–1886.
414 James Morrill Allen, Jr. (1831–1902) Harvard, 1849. Great-grandson of Deacon James Morrill.
415 Sidney Willard (1831–1862) Harvard, 1852; lawyer; killed in action in Civil War.
416 George Artemus White Chamberlain (1831–1872) Harvard, ex 1856; lawyer in Elgin, Illinois.
417 The following names have been added in the Pulsifer copv of First Church Records.
- 1854. Charles A. Allen.
- 1855. Chas. A. Allen.
- 1856. Chas. A. Allen.
- 1857. Chas. A. Allen.
- 1858. Robert Willard.
- 1859. Robert Willard.
- 1860. Stephen G. Emerson.
- 1861. Frederic Ware.
- 1862. Frederic Ware.
- 1863. Frederic Ware.
- 1864. Frederic Ware.
- 1865. John Hillis.
- 1866. John Hillis.
- 1867. John Hillis.
- 1868. Edward Osgood Otis.
- 1869. Edward O. Otis.
- 1870. Edward O. Otis.
- 1871. Arthur L. Goodrich.
- 1872. Arthur L. Goodrich.
- 1873. Arthur L. Goodrich.
- 1874. Edmund Q. S. Osgood.
- 1875. George Osgood.
- 1876. George Osgood.
- 1877. Parry Kennard Solger.
- 1878. H. Irving Dillenback.
- 1879. William H. Page.
- 1880. William H. Page.
- 1881. William H. Page.
- 1882. William H. Page.
- 1883. Wallace Nutting.
[424–426] [Blank]
418 i.e. p. 155.
419 “The South Church received as its share about £280 in securities.” H. A. Hill, History of the Old South Church, I, 436.
420 This apparently was a form letter for the dismission of members to other churches.
421 This volume is a brown calfskin octavo of 228 pages and, apart from a few church votes, it contains a list of church members who affixed their names to the Church Covenant. Although this membership book was not closed until 1956, it has seemed desirable to print the volume in its entirety.
422 All of the records through John Clinton and Rebecca Smith are copied from a paper covered notebook which has been preserved among the loose papers of the church. In general, this original has autograph signatures. Both the original list and the copied entries are in the hand of John Clarke.
423 i.e. from a paper covered notebook begun in 1786.
424 In original paper covered list but not transferred to this volume.
425 Both in original list.
426 Both in original list.
427 Here end names of men from original list.
428 Rebekah in original list (autograph).
429 Here end names of women from original list.
430 In original list but not transferred to this volume.
431 This Covenant and the signatures through P. C. Brooks, were transferred from the paper covered notebook begun by John Clarke in 1786.
432 Polly in original.
433 These three names not transferred from original list.
434 Nathaniel Byfield left fifty ounces of plate each to the two ministers in 1733 and this basin was undoubtedly purchased from these legacies since it bears the Byfield arms.
435 Thomas Waite (1691–1775), Deacon of the First Church, 1735–1775, married third in 1769, Suviah Torrey who married second in 1779, Cornelius Thayer.
436 James Everill (died 1683), shoemaker.
437 Anne Dummer (died 1715), wife of Jeremiah Dummer, maker of the cup.
438 Joshua Atwater (died 1676), mercer, formerly of New Haven, father of Anne Dummer.
439 Probably Robert Hull (died 1666), blacksmith; father of John Hull, silversmith.
440 Probably Thomas Clarke, Jr. (died 1682/83), merchant, Ruling Elder, 1673–1682/83.
441 Probably Jeremy Houchin (died 1670), tanner; daughter married Rev. James Allen, teacher of the Church, 1668–1710.
442 Probably John Sunderland (died 1703 at Eastham), parchment maker in Boston.
443 Probably William and Phebe Franklin. He was a blacksmith in Boston but died in London c. 1658.
444 Probably Atherton and Elizabeth Hough who came to Boston in 1633. He had been mayor of Boston in England and died in 1650.
445 Probably George and Hannah Henley. He was a chandler who died in 1708; she died in 1708 and left in her will to the First Church a “silver Cup or bowl.”
446 Perhaps Richard and Elizabeth Fairbanks who came to Boston in 1633 and from whom the cup passed to the Henleys.
447 Samuel More (died 1716) mariner; married Sarah, widow of Benedict Webber.
448 Benedict and Sarah Webber, former owners.
449 Nathaniel and Hannah (Hirst) Balston. He died in 1773.
450 William and Elizabeth (Dering) Welsteed. Their son, Rev. William Welsteed, was minister of the New Brick Church.
451 John Forland (died 1729), tobacconist.
452 i.e. B[oston] C[hurch].
453 Initials of former owner; believed to be the “silver tunn” bequeathed to the First Church by Rev. John Cotton in 1652.
454 i.e. O[ld] C[hurch].
455 Suviah Thayer, widow of Deacon Cornelius Thayer, see above, p. 485.
456 The communion silver has been exhaustively studied by E. Alfred Jones in The Old Silver of American Churches. (Letchworth, England, National Society of Colonial Dames of America, 1913), pp. 19–35. The preceding notes have been drawn freely from this source.
457 Added in later hand.
458 Illegible.
459 Helen W. Stearns, Church Secretary. Cf. p. 492.
460 A list of marriages performed by Rev. Thomas Foxcroft between August 4, 1720 and November 12, 1767, was published from his papers in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register xlii. 152–154, 250–254. A small paper covered notebook containing marriages performed by Rev. John Clarke from 1778 to 1786, subsequently came into the possession of the Church. The entries are as follows:
|
1778 |
|
|
July 18 |
Elias William and Katy Leving stone |
|
Oct. 24 |
Israel Burnell and Sally Goddard |
|
1779 |
|
|
Jan. 30 |
James Ivers and Eliza Hews |
|
Feb. 2 |
William Summer and Abigail Warden |
|
Feb. 18 |
John McDougal and Sarah Mitchel |
|
Feb. 25 |
William Williams and Mary Thwing |
|
Jack Astin and Sylvia Bannister |
|
|
April 6 |
John Newell and Mary Wells |
|
May 29 |
Cornelius Thayer and Suviah Wait |
|
July 8 |
Josiah Blakeley and Sarah Blanchard |
|
Aug. 4 |
Ezra Weld and Abigail Greenleaf |
|
Aug. 10 |
Benjamin Vincent and Elizabeth Hanes |
|
1780 |
|
|
Jan. 10 |
Eli Sumner and Elizabeth Hanes |
|
Jan. 22 |
John Browne and Martha Allen |
|
March 27 |
Gilbert Ash and Lydia Thayer |
|
Aug. 14 |
Mark Myars and Elizabeth Doggert |
|
Sept. 17 |
Benjamin Larking and Polly Jackson |
|
Nov. 28 |
Joseph Rhodes and Caty Greenleaf |
|
Thomas Wadsworth and Nancy Lamb |
|
|
Robert Stevens and Hannah Green |
|
|
1781 |
|
|
Jan. 4 |
Bantam Phillips and Hannah Freeman |
|
Jan. 4 |
Ebenezer Fish and Mary Montgomery |
|
March 6 |
John Griffith and Sarah Child |
|
May 4 |
Thomas Wells and Hannah Adams |
|
Aug. 22 |
George Burroughs and Mary Fullerton |
|
Sept. 15 |
William Clough and Mary Hastings |
|
Dec. |
Henry Newman and Deborah Cushing |
|
Jack Phillips and Flora Hall |
|
|
1782 |
|
|
Feb. 4 |
Jeremiah Cushing and Abigail Edwards |
|
March 17 |
John Hunt and Sally Sherburne |
|
July 9 |
James White and Dorcas Ingersol |
|
John Crapes and Betsy Moncrief |
|
|
1783 |
|
|
April 28 |
Edward Reed and Mary Peck |
|
April 30 |
John Kneeland and Rebecca Austin |
|
Sept. 1 |
Jonathan Snelling and Caty Hoskins |
|
1784 |
|
|
March 3 |
William Jennison and Mary Vibert |
|
Charles Beaujeau and Lucy Snow |
|
|
April 27 |
Julius Cesar Jeffers and Achsah Borjiner |
|
Aug. 26 |
George Miles and Polly Walker |
|
Oct. 15 |
Joseph Head and Betsey Frasier |
|
Nov. 12 |
James Minot and Polly Demming |
|
Dec. 2 |
Anthony Rowe and Sarah Sears |
|
John Gillis and Janet Bean |
|
|
1785 |
|
|
Jan. 13 |
John Aves and Meribah Caswell |
|
May 4 |
William McClough and Mary Fessenden |
|
Patrick Fletcher and Sally Bradley |
|
|
Peletiah Webster and Rebecca Hunt |
|
|
Oct. 28 |
David Tyler and Sarah Wheelwright |
|
Nov. 10 |
Ebenezer Wight and Caty Fuller |
|
Nov. 14 |
Martin Burkes and Sally Wood |
|
Nov. 17 |
Galen Otis and Joanna Tilden |
|
Dec. 1 |
Davis Whitman and Hannah Hawkes |
|
1786 |
|
|
Jan. 25 |
Michael Ryon and Ruth Langely |
|
Feb. |
James Tappen Noyes and Elizabeth Ropes |
|
Feb. |
William Hearsey and Sally Rogers |
|
Feb. 9 |
Simeon Wade and Hannah Freeman |
|
Feb. 13 |
Lot Hall and Polly Homer |
|
March 17 |
John Scholts and Jane Carleton |
|
April 15 |
George Richards and Sarah Baldwin |
|
April 15 |
William Dexter and Elizabeth Deering |
|
Sept. 19 |
John Tayler and Hannah Carey |
|
Sept. 21 |
David Black and Elizabeth Freeman |
|
Sept. 21 |
Isaac Cole and Mary Ethridge |
|
Oct. 13 |
Cesar Seward and Grace Cazneau |
|
Oct. 26 |
Nathaniel Ruggles and Sally Fellows |
|
Nov. 4 |
William Miller and Nabby Henshaw |
|
Dec. 21 |
Peter Branch and Sylvia Dalton |
461 Should read March 12, 1673/4, i.e. “12th day of the first month.”
462 Suffolk Probate Records, vi. 78.
463 i.e. Church Book.
464 Chauncey married his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Phillips) Townsend, widow of James Townsend, on January 8, 1738/9. She was described by the press as “a Gentlewoman of very plentiful estate” and during her marriage she undertook extensive repairs on the parsonage at her own expense. She died April 11, 1757. William Blair Townsend (1723–1778) was her son.
465 i.e. blank.
466 This entry is placed out of sequence.
467 James Hiller Foster. Cf. p. 1000.
468 Mar. 31. By Balance brought down from old account $103.18
469 John Greenleaf (1763–1848) who resided in Quincy; blind from the age of ten. “Mr. Greenleaf was quite proficient in music as an organist and performer on other musical instruments.” Cf. J. E. Greenleaf, Genealogy of Greenleaf Family (Boston, 1896), pp. 100–101.
470 Brought in from Margin.
471 Dr. Chauncy died February 10, 1787, having been minister of the First Church sixty years.
472 According to a memorandum of Jeremy Belknap, the Selectmen estimated the loss as follows: “56 dwelling houses, 13 stores, 1 meeting-house [Hollis Street], 8 barns, 86 families burnt out; loss of property in round numbers £20,000.” No lives were lost. For a map of the area, see letter of Belknap to Hazard, April 23, 1787 (Belknap Papers 1. 469–473).
473 The records do not indicate any meeting of the Society on this date.
474 Sermons (Boston, 1799). Copy in Boston Athenæum. The selection and editing was under the direction of John Thornton Kirkland.
475 Obviously should read 1799.
476 Original letter on file in Church Archives has Thaddeus.
477 The preceding form of letter missive was sent to the various churches which composed the Ecclesiastical Council for Mr. Emerson’s settlement.
478 Benajah, Pew Deed, July 21, 1808.
479 An act was finally passed in 1817 allowing proprietors of meetinghouses to regulate their affairs and tax their pews. Cf. Edward Buck, Massachusetts Ecclesiastical Law (Boston, 1866), p. 146.
480 Signed by Benjamin.
481“Memorandum delivered Deacon Jacob Williams of Burlington, State of Vermont by consent of Deacon James Morrill a present of two Flagons of Britania and four silver plated handle cups as a present from the first Church in Boston to the Church in Burlington. 
(This is to be charged against my Note to Deacon Morrill for pious uses. David Tilden.) Loose papers of Church. No date.
482 To the Members of the First Church of Christ in Boston.
My Dear Brethren.
Some recent events, equally unexpected and afflictive, having cast a shade upon my character, which, at present I am unable to remove; it becomes my duty to myself, as well as to you, to decline accepting the honorable appointment, to which your kind partiality, some months since invited me—I shall fondly hope, however, to continue my fellowship and communion with you, and strive to walk more worthy of such a relation—
Requesting your prayers for divine assistance
I remain
with sentiments of affection
Your Brother and friend
James Thwing
Boston December 3d 1814
Deacon James Morrill
to be communicated to the
Members of the First Church
of Christ in Boston
483 This entry was not recorded in the church records but has been preserved in the file of papers. James Thwing (1763–1835) was cashier of the Massachusetts Bank, 1793–1814. “He lent money to a friend which caused him to fail.” Cf. W. E. Thwing, Thwing, A Genealogical, Biographical and Historical Account of the Family (Boston, 1883), pp. 47–48.
484 This was the theological library of the Boston Association of Ministers which was the fourth social library in Boston. It was incorporated into the Boston Athenaeum in 1823. A catalogue of the books was published in 1808.
485 No such volume is extant.
486 Cf. pp. 649, 660.
487 This is the Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers which has met annually with few exceptions since the late seventeenth century. It survived the theological controversies of the early nineteenth century and presently includes the clery of both branches of Congregationalism, trinitarian and unitarian. Cf. Harold F. Worthley, “The Massachusetts Convention of Congregational Ministers.” (The Proceedings of the Unitarian Historical Society, 1958.)
488 A calamitous fire of incendiary origin broke out in Newburyport on May 31, 1811 and before its course was arrested more than ninety families were rendered homeless while the financial losses were calculated at approximately a million dollars. Subscriptions were at once opened throughout New England and Boston alone contributed $24,315.25. Cf. Smith. History of Newburyport. (Newburyport, 1854), pp. 185–189.
489 Written over William.
490 The following letter will indicate the reason for the failure of the vote of September 29, 1809:
Boston, December 27. 1811
Sir
By a vote of the Society of the first Church in this town, passed in July 1809 an Organ was contracted for in London and was finished and paid for in November 1810. This instrument would have been shipped in the New Galen but was prevented by the non-intercourse taking effect before that ship could get ready for sea, and the Society have been deprived of the use of it ever since that period. I am now desired, by the Church Committee, to petition the Treasury department to grant a dispensation in favor of the Organ which was finished and paid for before the Non-intercourse took effect, and is in the situation of Goods that have been admitted; and that they may have liberty to get out an Instrument which is deemed, by the Society, so necessary to their public worship, and the deprivation of which causes fresh murmurs and difficulties every returning Sabbath.
I am Sir your Obedient Servant
David Tilden, Chairman
of the Committee for the
first Church.
Honl. Albert Gallatin Esq.
N B—this a Copy of a letter that was put into the Post Office in Boston December 27, 1811, by D. Tilden.
Copy of Letter to Honorable A. Gallatin, Esq. Secretary of the Treasury of the United States—December 27, 1811.
491 David Tilden sold this pew to Ebenezer O. Fifield, April 24, 1810; Gooch sold to E. O. Fifield, March 21, 1815. (File of Pew Deeds.) Gooch’s first name does not appear. It is possible that he was a creditor of Fifield’s and had attached the pew.
492 Cf. pp. 632, 633.
493 Frothingham’s acceptance was as follows:
To the Committee of the First Church and Congregation in Boston.
Gentlemen,
It is not easy to address you on the subject of those votes of the First Church and Congregation, by which I am invited to become their pastor. They have awakened an interest and excited emotions, which I hardly expected ever to experience. The Christian ministry, even to the mind of youthful eagerness and confidence, which contemplates it at a distance, seems almost forbidding by its solemnity, its responsibility, its importance; by its labours, which the faithful servant of God must never remit; by its consequences, that extend beyond this life. How, then, must it appear to one, who is just assuming its arduous labours; to one, who has lived too little in the world to have learned much from experience; but who has lived long enough to suffer its disappointments and trials, and to drink of its bitterest cup?
To tell you with what views and purposes, my Christian Friends, I devoted myself to the study and to the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures, would be unnecessary, and perhaps improper. Neither is it for me to pronounce what my present resolutions and feelings ought to be; nor to profess what they are. With regard to the one you cannot be informed; and the other must rest with my conscience and my Judge.
Permit me to express to you, and to the Church and Congregation which you represent, my grateful acknowledgments for the candour and attention, with which my humble ministrations have been received; and for your united wish that I should labour among you in the profession of my deliberate, devoted choice. I praise God for the unanimity, with which this wish has been expressed; and hail it as a pledge of future confidence and attachment. It is a pledge, which revives within me those hopes of usefulness; which sometimes, when I considered the humbling disproportion between my powers and attainments and virtues, and the duties to which they were to be consecrated, almost deserted me. My prayer is to that good Being, who alone can give strength to the feeble, and guidance to those, who are in doubtful paths; that He make me worthy to assert his cause, and teach his commandments, and serve in his temple; and that He suffer me not to faint in the way.
Relying on your affectionate aid, and above all, reposing my confidence in that assistance, which is from heaven, and is all-sufficient; I solemnly accept the charge to which you have appointed me. May the blessing of Almighty God rest upon the connexion, which we are to form; and may He grant that it may be conducive to our mutual instruction and virtue, our religious confidence and comfort and joy!
Nathaniel L. Frothingham.
Boston, February 8th 1815.
494 “One hundred thirty-nine gentlemen and three officers” dined at a cost of $203.95 to the Society. (Church File.)
495 Cf. pp. 642, 649.
496 Henry Colman (1785–1849) Dartmouth, 1805, also Harvard, 1806; minister New North Church, Hingham, 1807–1820; Salem, 1825–1831. Farmer; traveled extensively and died in England where Lady Byron caused a monument to be erected over his grave.
497 Cf. p. 452.
498 i.e. Frothingham.
499 The following clergymen supplied the desk during this period: I. H. T. Blanchard, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jonathan Farr, William Ford, Hersey B. Goodwin, Edward B. Hall, George R. Noyes, George Ripley, Robert F. Wallcut, George W. Wells. (Church File.)
500 Plea against Religious Controversy, Boston, 1829.
501 Probably South Congregational Society, founded May 19, 1828.
502 Added in pencil.
503 Changed to April by vote of November 24, 1841. See vote on page 789.
504 Amendment adopted July 16, 1832. See page 722.
505 Sold to Samuel Stone on December 17, 1829. (Church File.) A Samuel Stone (1779–1830), merchant in Townsend, Massachusetts, was active in the erection of a meeting house in that town at this time. Cf. I. B. Sawtelle. History of the Town of Townsend. Fitchburg, 1878, pp. 151, 322–326.
506 Ebenezer Claflin was born in Middleborough, November 26, 1752, and died in Boston, March 28, 1831. Served in the American Revolution; described as five feet seven inches in height with dark complexion. He was first employed by the Church in 1804.
507 In a letter of application undated, he writes, “By all appearances the hand of death is hovering round and will soon call his victim to our Mother Earth, your faithful servant and my much esteemed friend and relative, Mr. Ebenezer Claflen … Under these circumstances, I take the liberty of offering my person to act in that Capacity, hoping at the same time my conduct while acting as his colleague will speak louder than words of recommendation coming from strangers.” (Ms. letter in Church File.) Otis Claflin, a son, also applied on March 24, 1831 and refers to assisting his father “for many years.”
508 A large number of “Young Men” marched to the Meeting House for the Oration and then proceeded to Quincy Hall for dinner. Cf. Boston Evening Transcript. July 2, 1831.
509 On March 23, 1833 Mr. Gilbert William Thomas Jones addressed a communication to the Committee in which he refers to “the disadvantages under which I have laboured during the time I have been Organist at your Church, as compared with the advantages received by the organists at other Churches—the encouragement bestowed upon them as teachers of Music, by the members of the Church, has fully compensated for the small salary received—As I have not received the Benefit I anticipated from the Members, not having had one of the numerous families attending as a Pupil, I must solicit your kindness and beg of you to make such an increase to my Salary as will at least remunerate me for the services, I hope I have render’d to your satisfaction.” (Ms. letter in Church File.) Cf. p. 742.
510 James Morrill, son of Rev. Isaac and Dorothy (Ruggles) Morrill, was born in Wilmington, February 8, 1751 and died in Boston, April 3, 1833. He married in 1778 Mary Glover born 1760; died April 3, 1842. He settled originally in Providence, R. I., but removed to Boston where he was a flour merchant. He had four children.
511 No copy of this sermon has been found.
512 This petition dated January 15, 1835, was signed by William Prescott, C. C. Parsons, Henry Chapman, Jonathan P. Cushing by William Sturges, attorney, Margaret Coffin by E. H. Robbins. (Church File.)
513 Cf. p. 723.
514 A Committee of Relief had been organized with David Fosdick, chairman, and W. W. Wheildon, secretary, and upon their investigation it was estimated that about eighty buildings had been destroyed and between two and three hundred persons had been reduced to real want and suffering. Cf. Charlestown Sufferers (Printed circular in Church file).
515 The five page report opposed the sale of any part of the land primarily because it had been a virtual gift dating from 1680 and could not, therefore, be disposed of morally, except in case of the direst necessity of the parish. IT was further suggested that financial remedies were available by (1) increasing rental on the houses, (2) increasing pew taxes which were low, and (3) curtailing expenses. It was also pointed out that the present indebtedness had arisen, in considerable measure, as the result of extraordinary repairs to the real estate which would not be immediately recurring. Cf. Ms. Report in Church File.