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 . JAN 9:2 1932 
 
 DISCOURSE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 CAMBRIDGE CHURCH-GATHERING 
 
 IN 1636; 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE FIRST CHURCH, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1846. 
 
 By WILLIAM NEWELL, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY. 
 
 1846. 
 
 
CAMBRIDGE: 
 MKTCALF AND COMPANY 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 " We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told 
 
 US, WHAT WORK THOU DIDST IN THEIR DAYS, IN THE TIMES OF OLD. 
 HOW THOU DIDST DRIVE OUT THE HEATHEN WITH THY HAND, AND 
 PLANTEDST THEM FOR THEY GOT NOT THE LAND IN POSSES- 
 SION BY THEIR OWN SWORD, NEITHER DID THEIR OWN ARM SAVE THEM ; 
 BUT THY RIGHT HAND, AND THINE ARM, AND THE LIGHT OF THY 
 COUNTENANCE., BECAUSE THOU HADST A FAVOR UNTO THEM." Psalm 
 
 xliv. 1 - 3. 
 
 / 
 
 On a Monday morning, towards the close of the 
 early and severe winter of 1635-36, "The New 
 Towne," or " Newtown," as this village was then 
 called,* presented an unusual aspect. Instead of the 
 
 # Two years after this (in May, 1638) its name was changed by the 
 General Court to Cambridge, in prophetic compliment to the newly es- 
 tablished College, and in grateful remembrance of the place in Old Eng- 
 land where many of the magistrates and ministers of the Massachusetts 
 Colony had received their education. It was at that place, also, that an 
 agreement to remove with their families to New England, on condition of 
 the transfer of the charter and government of the Colony to this country, 
 was drawn up and subscribed by Saltonstall, Dudley, Johnson, Winthrop, 
 Nowell, and others, in August, 1629. See it in Hutchinson's Coll., 
 p. 25. That agreement determined the destinies of America, and in- 
 volved consequences which will finally encircle the world. 
 
I 
 
 ordinary stir and business of the day, there was a 
 Sabbath-like quiet and gravity in the looks and move- 
 ments of the people. There were signs of prepara- 
 tion for some special solemnity. The signal for a 
 public gathering was heard; and, as the inhabitants 
 issued from their dwellings and passed with sedate 
 step through the streets, others of less familiar coun- 
 tenance, who had spent the Sabbath with them that 
 they might be here in season, or who had just arrived 
 from the neighbourhood, were seen mingling with 
 them as they went. Gathering from all quarters 
 came the fathers of the infant church and common- 
 wealth of Massachusetts, to sanction by their presence 
 the solemn act which was about to be performed in 
 the first rude temple, which had been erected a few 
 years before a little way from the spot on which we 
 are now assembled to the worship of the one living 
 and true God. From Boston, from Charlestown, from 
 Winnisimet, from Roxbury, from Dorchester, from 
 Watertown, from Medford, from Concord, and the 
 towns which were within convenient travelling dis- 
 tance, the "messengers" of the invited churches, and 
 others drawn hither by curiosity and religious interest, 
 were seen wending their way, as they then best could, 
 over new rough roads, or across the open fields and 
 over the ice-bridged rivers and streams, to the humble 
 Puritan sanctuary. In the midst of the newly-risen 
 dwellings which had sprung up as by magic under 
 the diligent hands of the Christian adventurers who 
 first planted the town, on the rising ground just above 
 
the marshes, and in the principal street,* leading 
 down to the river, — which bore, as it still bears, the 
 name of their king,t — stood the House of Prayer. 
 A plain, roughly finished edifice it was, but as precious 
 in the sight of God as the marble and gilded cathe- 
 dral ; another expressive testimonial of the spirit 
 which had led the Pilgrims into the Transatlantic 
 wilderness, and which, wherever they went, like 
 Abraham in his journeyings, builded its altars to the 
 Lord. Whether its church-going bell still woke the 
 echoes of Cambridge, we have no record to tell us ; 
 though some time in the course of the year, as we 
 
 * Then Water Street ; now called Dunster Street, aftec President 
 Dunster, whose house, as it is believed to be, is still standing there, — 
 the only surviving contemporary of the first church. The church stood 
 on the west side of the street, near the place where it is intersected by 
 Mount Auburn Street, and on the south side of that street, upon land at 
 present owned by Dr. T. W. Harris, Librarian of the University. The 
 spot is now vacant. 
 
 | So named by Captain John Smith, renowned for his bravery, enter- 
 prise, and romantic adventures, both in the Old World and the New; 
 one of the first voyagers to New England (which also owes its name to 
 him), who, by his writings and personal efforts, did more, perhaps, than 
 any other single individual to direct the attention of men of character and 
 property towards it, and to interest them in its early settlement. In his 
 voyage hither, in 1614, he made a map of the coast, and called it New 
 England. " But malicious mindes," he says, " amongst Sailers and oth- 
 ers, drowned that name with the echo of Nusconcus, Canaday, and 
 Penaquid ; till at my humble sute, our most gracious King Charles, then 
 Prince of Wales, was pleased to confirme it by that title and did change 
 the barbarous names of their principall Harbours and habitations for such 
 English that posterity may say King Charles was their Godfather." In 
 another place, he says, — "I tooke the fairest reach in this Bay for a 
 river, whereupon I called it Charles River, after the name of our Royall 
 King Charles:' Mass. Histor. Coll., 3d Series, Vol. III., pp. 20, 34. 
 See also Hillard's Life of Smith, in Sparks's Biography, 1st Series, 
 Vol. II. 
 
learn from an incidental mention of the fact by one 
 of our quaint New England historians* of that day, 
 the dull, heavy sound of the beaten drum, converted 
 for the time from the heathen service of battle and 
 war into a herald of the assemblies of the Prince of 
 Peace, announced the hour of gathering to the people. 
 The little church was soon filled to overflowing. The 
 day, perhaps, was one of the mild and bright days 
 which February often mingles with its snows and 
 storms ; and even if it were not, our hardy sires who 
 had left their pleasant homes in Old England for the 
 " stern and rockbound coast " of the New, who had 
 deliberately exchanged their dear native soil for the 
 uncertainties and discomforts of a colony in a heathen 
 and savage land, who had traversed the wide, welter- 
 ing sea for the privilege of worshipping God in purity 
 and freedom, — men who made their religion the sun 
 and centre of their being, — were not to be daunted 
 by a little cold or a little damp in the performance of 
 its duties ; and though our modern safeguards against 
 snow and wet were unknown to their pilgrim feet, 
 though neither stove nor furnace — those innovations 
 of modern church-comfort — softened the chilly air, 
 or dissolved the curling breaths that rose thickly up- 
 ward in the sanctuary, they never thought of com- 
 plaining, much less of staying at home. And as for 
 distance from church, miles to them seemed little 
 more than as many furlongs now to their descendants. 
 
 * Johnson, in his Wonder-working Providence, Chap. XL1II., speaks 
 of a drum as being used here in 1636 " to call men to meeting.'' 
 
" I have heard," says Cotton Mather, in his biogra- 
 phy of John Norton, the highly esteemed successor 
 of Cotton in the ministry of the First Church in 
 Boston, " I have heard of a godly man in Ipswich, 
 who, after Mr. Norton's going to Boston, would ordi- 
 narily travel on foot from Ipswich to Boston, which is 
 about thirty miles, for nothing but the weekly lecture 
 there ; and he would profess that it was worth a 
 great journey to be partaker in one of Mr. Norton's 
 prayers." Thirty miles on foot to hear a Thursday 
 lecture ! And now I will venture to say that half of 
 our people, even in the very neighbourhood of the 
 metropolis, are ignorant that such a lecture still exists ; 
 — have never heard of it, or, if they have, have for- 
 gotten it, — and that nineteen twentieths of them 
 have never attended it in their lives. It has become 
 what the present successor of Cotton and Norton has 
 so aptly called it, " the shade of the past." Such are 
 the changes which take place from generation to gen- 
 eration. I do not imagine, however, that such in- 
 stances as that which Mather has reported were at all 
 common. But it is an indication of the state of feel- 
 ing and of society among our ancestors, of which this 
 was but an exaggerated specimen. They loved the 
 house of God. They prized its privileges. They 
 were religiously jealous of its honor ; and nothing 
 would have more shocked the devout public opinion of 
 that day than absence without good cause from their 
 Sabbath assemblies. It would have been death to a 
 man's character and influence among them. 
 
8 
 
 Attendance upon public worship, however, was 
 with them a matter not only of fashion and decorum, 
 sometimes enforced by civil authority, but of individu- 
 al conscience and inclination. They hungered and 
 thirsted after religious instruction. They sat patiently 
 through services which to their descendants of this 
 day would seem of insufferable length. They looked 
 up to the pulpit, then at the height of its glory and 
 influence, for their weekly supply of thought and spir- 
 itual nutriment. Preaching was to them a necessary 
 of life. The various causes which in after generations 
 have contributed to lower its authority, and to render 
 it less exclusively the source of moral and religious 
 instruction, had not yet begun to operate. The Con- 
 gregational clergy — " the Elders," as they were 
 called — were in fact the rulers as well as teachers of 
 the young Christian commonwealth. In all important 
 questions of a civil, as well as of a religious nature, 
 they were formally consulted, and their opinion had 
 great weight. "In early times they were generally 
 present in the courts." A discourse at the Thursday 
 lecture or at a public fast, by Mr. Cotton or Mr. 
 Hooker, more than once settled a growing difficulty, 
 or turned the scale in favor of some disputed measure. 
 The people mingled with reverence for the men much 
 of the old reverence for their office, and listened to their 
 words with an attention and deference second only to 
 that which is accorded by the Catholic to his priest. 
 What the altered tastes and habits of thought of the 
 present age would hardly tolerate, they listened to not 
 
only with patience, but with satisfaction and high 
 relish. Multiplied divisions and subdivisions of text 
 and subject, accumulations of Scripture proofs, gath- 
 ered indiscriminately from the Old Testament and the 
 New, minute dissections of doctrine, expositions of 
 the technical theology of the day, discussions of its 
 controverted points, — often in a phraseology which 
 added mist to the twilight in which they dwell, — 
 these, which to us, as we read them now on the anti- 
 quated and discolored page, seem but dry and husky 
 food, tasteless and innutritive, and sometimes worse 
 than that, were received by our Calvinistic fathers of 
 a different training as the sweet marrow of heavenly 
 wisdom. In their love of religious ordinances, in th^ir 
 zeal for the doctrines and the institutions of their 
 choice, in their thirst for divine truth, in their rev- 
 erence for the ministry anoV the pulpit, all quickened 
 by the peculiar circumstances in which they were 
 placed, the first settlers of New England took a deep 
 personal, active interest in all that related to the purer 
 church which they came over to establish in a free 
 soil, out of the way of the tyrant kings, and the more 
 dreaded tyrant bishops,* who would fain have stran- 
 gled and crushed it as it rose in their fatherland. 
 
 * The persecutor often does God service, and blesses the world, 
 though in a way which he never intended ; as the tornado sows more 
 widely the seed which it rends from the parent stalk. The son of one 
 of the first ministers, in a preface to a sermon preached soon after the 
 Revolution in 1688, remarks, " That, if the bishops in the reign of King 
 Charles the First had been of the same spirit with those in the reign of 
 King William, there would have been no New England." 
 2 
 
10 
 
 They wrapped their religion closer round them in the 
 storm. They clave more steadfastly and lovingly to 
 their chosen teachers in their trials and persecutions. 
 They honored their pulpit the more as the fires of 
 intolerance blazed more fiercely against it. Their 
 religious privileges were made dearer to them by the 
 sacrifices and privations with which they had been 
 bought ; and the preached word was sought the more 
 eagerly, and enjoyed with a keener zest, because it 
 had been arbitrarily and forcibly withheld. These, 
 added to other obvious reasons in the character, feel- 
 ings, and present circumstances of the first colonists 
 in New England, invested every religious occasion 
 and religious movement among them with a peculiar 
 interest. The gathering of a new church, therefore, 
 in this place, in the room of the migratory flock from 
 Mount Wollaston,* which was only waiting for the 
 summer days to take up its tents and to pursue its 
 pilgrimage to the greener pastures of Connecticut, 
 was a noticeable occurrence in the early days of the 
 Colony ; and Cambridge, before it was rechristened 
 by the General Court with its present time-honored 
 
 * " In August, 163-2," says Winthrop, " the Braintree company 
 (which had begun to sit down at Mount Wollaston), by order of Court, 
 removed to Newtown. These were Mr. Hooker's company." They 
 had attended his ministry in England, and upon their settlement here, 
 they sent to him in Holland, whither he had fled from persecution, en- 
 treating him to become their pastor. He came over the next year, and 
 took up his abode with them. They were now (in February, 1836) 
 preparing for another removal, the reasons of which will appear in the 
 following pages. 
 
11 
 
 name, was one of the chief towns of the Massachu- 
 setts settlement. Before our ancestors, with a rare 
 and wise forethought, and with a liberality and public 
 spirit which can be matched by few examples in his- 
 tory, had laid upon this spot the foundations of their 
 first and favorite College, before the timely and mu- 
 nificent bequest of John Harvard, in 1638, and the 
 voluntary contributions of the people at large, had 
 reared its walls, our ancient village had its own prior 
 claims to distinction. It was originally selected for 
 the site of the metropolis ; and was to have been the 
 residence of the first governor, Winthrop, and his 
 associates in office, who had made an agreement to 
 build here,* and in a better and safer style than here-, 
 tofore, none being allowed to have wooden chimneys 
 or thatched roofs, which had already, in other places, 
 been the occasion of destructive fires. They actually 
 commenced the work in the spring of 1631.f New 
 considerations led them to abandon the original plan, 
 
 * Dudley's Letter to the Countess of Lincoln. 
 
 f " Deputy-Governor Dudley, Secretary Bradstfeet, and other princi- 
 pal gentlemen, in the spring went forward with their design, and intend- 
 ed to carry it on amain. The Governor has the frame of his house set 
 up where he first pitched his tent ; and Mr. Dudley had not only framed, 
 but finished his house there, and removed his family thereinto before win- 
 ter ; but on other considerations, which at first came not into their 
 minds, the Governor takes down his frame and brings it to Boston, where 
 he intends to take up his abode for the future ; which is no small disap- 
 pointment to the rest of the company, who were minded to build at New- 
 town, and accompanied with some disgust between the two chief gentle- 
 men (Winthrop and Dudley) ; but they are soon satisfied with the 
 grounds of each other's proceedings." — Prince. 
 
12 
 
 though not without considerable struggle and some 
 hard feeling among those who had been concerned in 
 it ; and Boston ere long eclipsed the rising glory of 
 Cambridge. The New Town, however, was for a 
 time the object of special notice and patronage. It 
 was fortified at the public expense for fear of the 
 Indians, and a " creek," or passage for boats, was 
 made to it from the river, for the payment of which a 
 tax was laid upon all the plantations. It was after- 
 wards the place in which some of the first annual 
 assemblies of the people were held for the election of 
 the governor and assistants. Here, under the shade of 
 a broad-spreading oak, — one of the aborigines of the 
 soil, in its old age when our Washington Elm was a 
 sapling, and the decayed stump of which is said to 
 have been standing, on the northerly side of our village 
 Common, till within half a century, — the privileged 
 voters of the new settlements, the freemen, as they 
 were called, members of the Congregational churches 
 (for they alone for many years were allowed to have 
 a voice in civil affairs), chose their rulers for the year ; 
 at first in person, and afterwards from " the remote 
 towns " by proxy, when a general attendance w r as 
 found inconvenient and expensive, as well as unsafe, 
 on account of the exposure of their families in their 
 absence to the attacks of their savage neighbours. 
 I find, also, that for the two years previous to the 
 church-gathering in 1636, Newtown paid the highest 
 tax into the colonial treasury, with the exception of 
 Boston and Dorchester, whose assessment was the 
 
13 
 
 same ; * and that at the time when this event took 
 place, — before the removal of Hooker's company, — 
 it stood in point of wealth at the head of the new 
 settlements.f It was then, also, as it had been for 
 the last two years, the residence of the governor ; and 
 the courts were generally holden here. Wood, who 
 returned from this country to England in 1633, in his 
 New England's Prospect, published in 1634, speaks 
 of Newtown as one of the neatest and best built 
 towns in the colony, and of the inhabitants as being 
 " most of them very rich, and well stored with Cattle 
 of all sorts, having many hundred Acres of ground 
 paled in with one general fence, which is about a 
 mile and half long, which secures all their weaker 
 Cattle from the wilde beasts." I have mentioned 
 these circumstances to show that Cambridge from 
 the beginning was a place of note ; and that even its 
 local affairs, especially such as that which I would 
 now commemorate, would naturally attract general 
 attention and interest. 
 
 But another occurrence in its history, just before 
 the arrival of Shepard and his people, in 1635, had 
 made it at that time the occasion of much talk, ex- 
 citement, and controversy. In the autumn of 1633, 
 Thomas Hooker, one of the most celebrated and in- 
 
 * Except in September, 1635, when that of Boston was a little small- 
 er. There were frequent fluctuations, however, in the relative popula- 
 tion and wealth of the several towns in the course of a few years. 
 
 f In March, 1636, Newtown was assessed £ 42, Boston and Dorches- 
 ter £ 37 105. each, Watertown £ 30, Salem £ 24, &c. 
 
14 
 
 fluential of the emigrant Puritan clergy, and Samuel 
 Stone, also a man of eminence in his day, were or- 
 dained, the former as pastor, the latter as teacher, of 
 the church * in this place, where many of Mr. Hook- 
 er's former hearers and parishioners were already set- 
 tled ; and " the New Towne " rejoiced for a season 
 in his light, and reflected his fame. But he and his 
 people soon became dissatisfied with their situation, 
 complaining of the narrowness of the township and 
 the w r ant of land for their cattle, and in a spirit al- 
 ready foretokening the future genius and fortunes 
 of their descendants, — a spirit which seems to be 
 breathed in with our American air, — they proposed 
 to go " further west," where they should have both a 
 wider and a more fertile territory. Of the manner in 
 which this proposition was received and settled, we 
 have a full account in the Journal of Governor Win- 
 throp. As the whole passage is, on many accounts, 
 an interesting one, I shall quote it entire. Under 
 date of September 4, 1634, he writes as follows : — 
 
 " The General Court began at Newtown, and con- 
 tinued a week, and then was adjourned fourteen days. 
 Many things were there agitated and concluded, as 
 fortifying in Castle Island, Dorchester, and Charles- 
 town ; also against tobacco, and costly apparel, and 
 
 * Of the forma] gathering of this church, — the predecessor of Shep- 
 ard's, but having only a transient abode here, — no account has come 
 down to us. It probably took place between the day of Hooker's arri- 
 val, September 4th, 1633, and his ordination, on the 11th of October 
 following. 
 
15 
 
 immodest fashions ; and committees appointed for set- 
 ting out the bounds of towns ; with divers other mat- 
 ters, which do appear upon record. But the main 
 business, which spent the most time, and caused the 
 adjourning of the Court, was about the removal of 
 Newtown. They had leave, the last General Court, to 
 look out some place for enlargement or removal, with 
 promise of having it confirmed to them, if it were not 
 prejudicial to any other plantation ; and now they 
 moved, that they might have leave to remove to Con- 
 necticut. This matter was debated divers days, and 
 many reasons alleged pro and con. The principal 
 reasons for their removal were, 1. Their want of ac- 
 commodation for their cattle, so as they were not able 
 to maintain their ministers, nor could receive any 
 more of their friends to help them ; and here it was 
 alleged by Mr. Hooker, as a fundamental error, that 
 towns were set so near each to other. 2. The fruit- 
 fulness and commodiousness of Connecticut, and the 
 danger of having it possessed by others, Dutch or 
 English. 3. The strong bent of their spirits to re- 
 move thither. 
 
 "Against these it was said, 1. That, in point of 
 conscience, they ought not to depart from us, being 
 knit to us in one body, and bound by oath to seek 
 the welfare of this commonwealth. 2. That, in point 
 of state and civil policy, we ought not to give them 
 leave to depart. (1.) Being we were now weak and 
 in danger to be assailed. (2.) The departure of Mr. 
 Hooker would not only draw many from us, but also 
 
16 
 
 divert other friends that would come to us. (3.) We 
 should expose them to evident peril, both from the 
 Dutcli (who made claim to the same river, and had 
 already built a fort there) and from the Indians, and 
 also from our own state at home, who would not en- 
 dure they should sit down without a patent in any 
 place which our king lays claim unto. 3. They 
 might be accommodated at home by some enlarge- 
 ment which other towns offered. 4. They might re- 
 move to Merrimack, or any other place within our 
 patent. 5. The removing of a candlestick is a great 
 judgment, which is to be avoided. 
 
 " Upon these and other arguments, the Court being 
 divided, it was put to vote ; and, of the deputies, 
 fifteen w r ere for their departure, and ten against it. 
 The governor and two assistants were for it, and the 
 deputy and all the rest of the assistants were against 
 it (except the secretary, who gave no vote) ; where- 
 upon no record was entered, because there were not 
 six assistants in the vote, as the patent requires. Up- 
 on this grew a great difference between the governor 
 and assistants, and the deputies. They would not 
 yield the assistants a negative voice, and the others 
 (considering how dangerous it might be to the com- 
 monwealth, if they should not keep that strength to 
 balance the greater number of the deputies) thought 
 it safe to stand upon it. So, when they could pro- 
 ceed no further, the whole Court agreed to keep a day 
 of humiliation to seek the Lord, which accordingly 
 was done, in all the congregations, the eighteenth day 
 
17 
 
 of this month ; and the twenty-fourth the Court met 
 again. Before they began, Mr. Cotton preached 
 (being desired by all the Court, upon Mr. Hooker's 
 instant excuse of his unfitness for that occasion). He 
 took his text out of Hag. ii. 4,* &c, out of which he 
 laid down the nature or strength (as he termed it) of 
 the magistracy, ministry, and people ; namely, the 
 strength of the magistracy to be their authority ; of 
 the people, their liberty ; and of the ministry, their 
 purity ; and showed how all of these had a negative 
 voice, &c, and that yet the ultimate resolution, &c, 
 ought to be in the whole body of the people, &x., 
 with answer to all objections, and a declaration of the 
 people's duty and right to maintain their true liberties 
 against any unjust violence, &x., which gave great 
 satisfaction to the company. And it pleased the 
 Lord so to assist him, and to bless his own ordinance, 
 that the affairs of the Court went on cheerfully ; and, 
 although all were not satisfied about the negative 
 voice to be left to the magistrates, yet no man moved 
 aught about it, and the congregation of Newtown 
 came and accepted of such enlargement as had former- 
 ly been offered them by Boston and Watertown ; and 
 so the fear of their removal to Connecticut was re- 
 moved." 
 
 So wrote and thought Winthrop at the time. But 
 
 * " Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord ; and be strong, 
 O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high-priest ; and be strong, all ye people 
 of the land, saith the Lord, and work : for I am with you, saith the Lord 
 of hosts." 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 it appears that the satisfaction was only a temporary 
 one. The root of the difficulty, whether it lay in the 
 reasons actually given, or in others of a private and 
 personal nature, not openly avowed and now unknown 
 and only matters of conjecture,* was not removed. 
 The people of Newtown were still discontented with 
 their situation, and bent upon leaving it for a better 
 and ampler settlement on the banks of the Connecti- 
 cut. It was not thought advisable to oppose their 
 wishes any longer, and the next year, 1635, the Gen- 
 eral Court gave consent to the proposed emigration. 
 
 In the autumn of this year arrived Thomas Shep- 
 ard, with the people of his future charge, who wil- 
 lingly purchased the houses and lands which were 
 about to be vacated, glad to find an American home 
 already prepared for their reception. The first settlers 
 of the place, ministers and people, being about to 
 transplant themselves in a body to a distant part of the 
 country, the new-comers who were to occupy their 
 places, and who had already taken up their abode 
 here with them, proceeded to organize a new church, 
 
 * It has been supposed by Hutchinson and others, that the growing 
 rivalship, though as yet a friendly one, between the leading men of Bos- 
 ton and those of Newtown stimulated the wish for a change of situation 
 on the part of the latter. Hooker and Haynes of this place, the compet- 
 itors in talent, character, and popularity, of Winthrop and Cotton, in 
 church and state, were desirous of another independent sphere, where 
 they could stand at the head of affairs without collision with their emi- 
 nent neighbours. They would rather be first in Connecticut than share 
 a divided and doubtful sway in Massachusetts. This., however, seems 
 to be a piece of historical scandal, resting only on surmise. The alleged 
 reasons for the movement are sufficient to explain it. 
 
19 
 
 of which Shepard was to be the pastor. The magis- 
 trates, as usual, were consulted, and gave their appro- 
 bation. The neighbouring churches w 7 ere invited to 
 send their " elders " to be present and take part in 
 the solemnity; — the first day of February, 1636 
 (O. S.), being fixed upon for the ceremony, a season 
 of the year, it may be observed, when people were 
 most at liberty to attend it, and when some who, at 
 the opening of the spring, were likely to be journey- 
 ing and exploring the country, or visiting distant 
 towns, were now at home in Boston and the vicinity. 
 
 It was this occasion which had produced the un- 
 usual throng and excitement in the village, and had 
 drawn together, perhaps, the most interesting and il- 
 lustrious assembly, as we now look back upon it, 
 which was ever gathered upon such^an occasion in 
 New England, at least in its early days. The scene 
 of that time which comes up before me, — now forgot- 
 ten, uncommemorated, without record, save that which 
 we owe to the honored pen of Winthrop, — at first 
 dimly descried through the haze of the distant past, 
 grows upon me in brightness as I gaze upon it. A 
 hallowed and a delightful one it was to the actors and 
 the witnesses. I see them, as one by one, or in scat- 
 tered groups, they enter the house of God. I see 
 among its crowded seats the countenances of men 
 who " were honored in their generation, and the glory 
 of their times." 
 
 And first among the forms which stand out on the 
 historic picture, as it presents itself to the eye of a 
 
20 
 
 Massachusetts memory, is that of John Winthrop, now 
 in the meridian of life, the father of our common- 
 wealth, the first governor of the colony, and always 
 among its ruling and guiding spirits, — " the Nehe- 
 miah," as Mather calls him, " of our American Jeru- 
 salem," — the able, discreet, faithful, noble-spirited, 
 open-handed servant of the rising state, for which he 
 freely spent his time, his property, and his strength, — 
 a man of many and great virtues, both in public and 
 in private life, and whose errors were the errors of his 
 age, — of well balanced mind, sound judgment, great 
 courtesy and self-command, — prudent in counsel, 
 energetic in action, mild and considerate in the exer- 
 cise of authority, so as even to be charged by his more 
 rigid associates with over-lenity, patient of personal 
 injuries, and overcoming evil with good, firm and in- 
 trepid in his adherence to right, meek and magnani- 
 mous in his acknowledgment of wrong, and pursuing 
 through the little and great trials of his lot the even 
 tenor of his way, — frugal, abstinent, laborious, self- 
 denying, wisely and manfully accommodating himself 
 to his new situation, avoiding in himself and discour- 
 aging in others all show and expensiveness in dress 
 and style of living, foregoing for example's sake many 
 of the elegancies and comforts to which he had been 
 accustomed, but at the same time dispensing promptly 
 and bountifully to the wants of the needy, and im- 
 poverishing himself in the public service, — the true 
 gentleman, the kind-hearted and benevolent neigh- 
 bour, the loving husband and father, the humble and 
 
21 
 
 devout Christian, whose revered name has been per- 
 petuated in its lustre, not only to the third and fourth, 
 but to our own generation. * 
 
 And with him, among his fellow-magistrates, though 
 more dimly visible,f appears his namesake and eldest 
 son, the first born of his early youth, now a man of 
 thirty, — John Winthrop, Jr., — lately returned from 
 England with " commission from Lord Say, Lord 
 Brooke, and divers other great persons in England, to 
 begin a plantation at Connecticut, and to be governor 
 there," — the heir in full of his father's talents and 
 goodness, his superior in learning and accomplish- 
 ments, destined to occupy a similar position in the 
 
 * He was a native of Groton, in Suffolk, born in 1587, of religious 
 and highly respected ancestry, educated to the law, married at the age of 
 seventeen, and at eighteen made Justice of the Peace,, winning golden 
 opinions of all for his wisdom, impartiality, and firmness. When the de- 
 sign of planting the Massachusetts colony was set on foot, he was at once 
 fixed upon by general consent as the man best qualified to conduct the 
 enterprise. "He was eleven times chosen governor, and spent his 
 whole estate," says Hutchinson, " in the public service, the stipend be- 
 ing small, and his hospitality great, and his bailiff unfaithful." "His 
 family," says Eliot, in 1809, " have been more eminent for their talents, 
 learning, and virtues, than any other in New England." An interesting 
 memoir of him is contained in Belknap's American Biography, Vol. II. 
 
 f John Haynes was governor, Richard Bellingham, deputy-governor, 
 for the present year. The assistants were the two Winthrops, father 
 and son, Dudley, Humfrey, Coddington, Pynchon, Nowell, Bradstreet, 
 Hough, and Dummer, most of whom, I presume, were present, according 
 to invitation, at this gathering of our Cambridge church. In the silence 
 of history, I have ventured to paint the scene by the light of probability 
 and conjecture. If History should hereafter convict Imagination of some 
 error in the representation, the consciousness of the mote in her own eye, 
 of the uncertainties and mistakes that sometimes creep even into her 
 written records, should make her charitable in her judgment upon any 
 dim or false vision of her handmaiden and interpreter. 
 
22 
 
 sister commonwealth which was soon to grow up by 
 the side of Massachusetts, the future benefactor and 
 good genius of Connecticut, and its successful agent 
 to the Court of Charles the Second, from whom, by 
 his address and personal influence, he obtained an 
 ampler and more favorable charter than had been yet 
 granted to any of the colonies, — for the fourteen 
 years after that until his death successively chosen to 
 the highest office in the gift of the grateful people (in 
 which, I may add, his own son, Fitz-John, another of 
 this family of American nobles, afterwards succeeded 
 him), and adding to his eminence in public life a high 
 distinction in medical science and philosophical studies 
 and attainments, being one of the founders of the 
 Royal Society of London, and a valued contributor to 
 its papers. The promise of his studious boyhood had 
 been richly fulfilled. The " dutiful and well-deserving 
 child " had become the virtuous and strong-minded 
 man. A liberal education at the Universities of Cam- 
 bridge and Dublin had been followed up by opportu- 
 nities of foreign travel, in which he visited the greater 
 part of Europe. The graces of the Christian charac- 
 ter, according to his father's devout wish, so finely 
 expressed, added " lustre and beauty to the gifts of 
 nature and industry." * Returning from his travels 
 
 * " The Lord grant that thy soul may still prosper in y e knowledge of 
 Js. Cht., and in y e strength of y e Spirit, as thy mind is strengthened in 
 wisdom and learning ; for this gives the true lustre and beauty to all 
 gifts, both of nature and industry, and is as wisdom with an inheritance.'' 
 — Wip.throp's letter to his son at Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
23 
 
 at the age of twenty-three, with improved mind and 
 unsullied morals, he readily gave up his prospects of 
 preferment in England for a wilderness home. " I 
 have seen so much of the vanity of the world," he 
 said, in a letter to his father, " that I esteem no more 
 of the diversities of countries than as so many inns, 
 whereof the traveller that hath lodged in the best, or 
 in the worst, findeth no difference when he cometh to 
 his journey's end ; and I shall call that my country, 
 where I may most glorify God and enjoy the presence 
 of my dearest friends." 
 
 And here, in this land of his adoption, his genius 
 and his virtues found their happy field and reward. 
 The purity and high tone of his principles, the sweet- 
 ness of his temper, the placid serenity and content- 
 ment of his spirit, his large charity and tolerance, his 
 wisdom and moderation, his varied gifts and acquire- 
 ments, blessed the circle and the community in which 
 he moved. " If he had faults, they are forgotten. In 
 history he appears by unanimous testimony, from early 
 life, without a blemish ; and it is the beautiful testi- 
 mony of his own father, that ' God gave him favor in 
 the eyes of all with whom he had to do.' " * 
 
 Near them we discern the sterner countenance of 
 Thomas Dudley, another of the trusty and devoted 
 
 * "The New World was full of his praises; Puritans and Quakers, 
 and the freemen of Rhode Island, were alike his eulogists; the Dutch at 
 New York, not less than all New England, had confidence in his integ- 
 rity ; Clarendon and Milton, Newton and Robert Boyle, became his 
 correspondents." — Bancroft's Hist, of the U. S., Vol. II., p. 53. 
 
24 
 
 servants of the colony, whose name is so often asso- 
 ciated with Winthrop's ; the first deputy-governor, 
 and afterwards from time to time governor, the prin- 
 cipal founder of our town, and the zealous champion 
 of its interests,* w 7 hose house f stood close by the 
 church, — and his heart too ; — a plain, blunt man, of 
 great integrity and independence, of strict honor and 
 truth in his dealings, t hardy in body and in mind, 
 able in business, well qualified in most respects for 
 public office, which he retained till his death, but at 
 the same time of an irritable temperament and strong 
 passions, somewhat close, it was thought, in money 
 matters, with a soldier's ^ roughness of speech, severe 
 
 * In behalf of which he had a serious misunderstanding with Win- 
 throp, as mentioned above, which was finally settled by the ministers ; 
 Winthrop, with his usual moderation and magnanimity, submitting to 
 their judgment against him, acknowledging himself to have been 
 "faulty," and promptly rendering the pecuniary satisfaction required of 
 him, which Dudley, with an equally honorable spirit, refused to accept. 
 The reconciliation between them was soon after more completely sealed 
 by a family union, Dudley's son marrying a daughter of Governor Win- 
 throp. 
 
 f At the foot of Water Street, then so called (see p. 5), and opposite 
 the " creek " before spoken of. It seems, from the following passage in 
 Winthrop (Vol. I., p. 73), to have been built in better style than others 
 of the time. "The governor having formerly told him that he did not 
 well to bestow such cost about wainscoting and adorning his house, in 
 the beginning of a plantation, both in regard of the necessity of public 
 charges, and for example, &c, his answer now was, that it was for the 
 warmth of his house, and the charge was but little, being but clapboards 
 nailed to the wall in the form of wainscot." 
 
 % Governor Belcher says, — "It was wrote of him, 
 
 ' Here lies Thomas Dudley, that trusty old stud, 
 A bargain 's a bargain, and must be made good.' " 
 
 § He had a captain's commission from Queen Elizabeth, and served 
 under Henry the Fourth at the siege of Amiens, in 1597. In 1611, he 
 was appointed major-general of the colony. 
 
25 
 
 and unbending in the administration of the laws, and 
 zealously intolerant in his religious sentiments. 
 
 John Haynes, too, without doubt, is there ; that 
 " heavenly man," as Roger Williams calls him, the 
 governor for the present year, another of the early 
 settlers of Cambridge * under the ministry of Hooker, 
 and afterwards with him one of the fathers of Con- 
 necticut, where he enjoyed an unbounded and unin- 
 terrupted esteem and popularity at the head of affairs 
 in that colony ; his wealth, as well as his wisdom and 
 uprightness, giving him an influence which he contin- 
 ued to possess and to deserve through life. 
 
 Not far from him, in the seats allotted to the most 
 honored of the assembly, I see one, lately arrived 
 from England, whom the veering popular favor is 
 about to place — though but for a single termf — in 
 the chief magistracy occupied successively by Win- 
 throp, Dudley, and Haynes, men of more than twice 
 his age ; — a young man of twenty-four, of noble 
 birth, and more noble spirit, of rich genius and accom- 
 plishments, of persuasive eloquence, in after life at 
 least, as Hume testifies, of consummate ability and ad- 
 dress, remarkable even in that age so famed for its 
 
 * He lived on the west side of Winthrop Square, then Market Place. 
 
 f The Hutchinson controversy, in which he took the unpopular side, 
 and his principles of wide toleration, so uncongenial with the spirit of the 
 age, turned the current against him, and defeated his election the follow- 
 ing year. Notwithstanding this, after his return to England, whenever 
 opportunity offered, he always " showed himself," says his rival and op- 
 ponent, Winthrop, " a true friend to New England, and a man of a noble 
 and generous mind." 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 active talents, — of patrician family, but of republican 
 and Puritan principles, — a most pure and devout 
 Christian, a far-sighted and profound thinker,* an ar- 
 dent lover and consistent defender of civil and re- 
 ligious liberty in its widest extent, a zealous seeker 
 and champion of truth, one of the earliest expound- 
 ers, not to say discoverers, of the fundamental princi- 
 ples of a constitutional republic, — whose high and 
 eventful career, commencing amid controversy and 
 tempest in the New World, and passing through 
 scenes of intense and varied excitement in the Old, is 
 to terminate in a martyr's calm and heroic death upon 
 the scaffold, — a death worth more to mankind than 
 a thousand common lives, — a death which made all 
 England's heart thrill, which drew admiration even 
 from his enemies, and forced from one of the by- 
 standers, a zealous loyalist, the applauding and ex- 
 pressive exclamation, " He dies like a prince!" I see 
 him in the midst of the magistrates and elders, with 
 that composed thoughtfulness of aspect, and grave 
 majesty of demeanour, which gave to his blooming 
 manhood the weight and authority of age ; — his re- 
 serve and quietness of manner, like the snows over a 
 still volcano, covering from a stranger's eye the in- 
 tense enthusiasm and energy which glowed in the 
 
 # Sir James Mackintosh, whose opinion will weigh down a host of 
 minor authorities, spoke of him as " one of the most profound minds that 
 ever existed, not inferior, perhaps, to Bacon." He has been often called 
 a fanatic. Such fanatics are the salt of the earth and the light of the 
 world. 
 
27 
 
 deep soul beneath ; — his peculiar and striking coun- 
 tenance having that in it which at once commanded 
 attention, and, as Clarendon says of it, " made men 
 think there was something in him extraordinary," as 
 there indeed was. Those of you who are familiar 
 with our early history will remember the name, the 
 character, and the fortunes of Sir Henry Vane. And 
 those who are not have a feast yet in store for them 
 in the deeply interesting biography of him published 
 a few years since, by a writer of our own country.* 
 It was fitly reserved for an American pen to render 
 to this man of American principles the full justice 
 which, from obvious causes, his memory had failed to 
 receive in his own land. It was to him that Milton, 
 at an after period, addressed the lines, — 
 
 " Vane, young in years, but in sage counsel old, / 
 Than whom a better senator ne'er held 
 The helm of Rome, when gowns, not arms, repelled 
 The fierce Epirot, and the African bold ; 
 Whether to settle peace, or to unfold 
 The drift of hollow states, hard to be spelled ; 
 Then to advise how war may, best upheld, 
 Move by her two main nerves, iron and gold, 
 In all her equipage ; besides to know 
 Both spiritual power and civil, what each means, 
 What severs each, thou hast learned, which few have done ; 
 The bounds of either sword to thee we owe ; 
 Therefore on thy firm hand Religion leans 
 In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son." 
 
 # Rev. C. W. Upham, in Sparks's American Biography, 1st Se- 
 ries, Vol. IV. "New England," says Grahame, "has now repaid 
 Vane's noble devotion by the best (Mr. Upham's) memoir of that great 
 man that has ever been given to the world." 
 

 28 
 
 I see this young English nobleman, whom Milton 
 in the fond admiration of a kindred spirit addressed 
 as " Religion's eldest son," surrounded by the exiled 
 ministers of that religion for whose sake, as La Fay- 
 ette afterwards did for Liberty's sake, he had volunta- 
 rily relinquished the splendors of rank, and the brilliant 
 prospects which opened before him at the English 
 court, under the high position and influence of his 
 father and his elevated family connections, for the re- 
 tirement of an obscure colony in the wilds of America. 
 I see him as, with shut thoughts and closed, meditative 
 look, he dwells apart in a world of his own, to the 
 likeness of which he would fain bring the kingdoms 
 of this. 
 
 Near him is his chosen preacher and friend,* John 
 Cotton ; the ecclesiastical patriarch of the Massa- 
 chusetts colony, silenced by Laud for the unpardon- 
 able sin of Puritanism and neglecting to kneel at the 
 sacrament, but now rejoicing in his banishment from 
 country and home as the opening, in Providence, of 
 an enlarged sphere of active usefulness and influence, 
 in which his learning and popular talents, his piety 
 and zeal, the weight of his character, and the mild- 
 ness of his spirit, placed him at the head of the clergy. 
 
 By his side sits his colleague in the ministry, John 
 Wilson, the first pastor of the Boston church, of 
 which Cotton was the teacher, so called ; — of whom 
 it was said by the celebrated Dr. Ames, " that if he 
 
 * It appears from Cotton's will, that Vane was for a time — probably 
 at his first coming — an inmate of his family. 
 
29 
 
 might have his option of the best condition this side 
 heaven, it would be that of teacher in a congrega- 
 tional church of which Mr. Wilson was pastor " ; * — 
 and of whose preaching our own Shepard, when he 
 first heard him, exclaimed, — "Methinks I hear an 
 apostle when I hear this man." Cambridge saw him 
 again the year after this, on a very different occasion, 
 and in a quite different attitude. In the violent re- 
 ligious controversy kindled by Mrs. Hutchinson, which 
 then divided the people and was carried into their 
 civil affairs, — Winthrop and Vane taking opposite 
 sides, — he was a zealous and decided opponent of 
 the new doctrines, showing in this as in other emer- 
 gencies, that, with all the meekness and love which 
 characterized him, he had an equal share of spirit and 
 energy when it was called for. At the exciting and 
 tumultuous election which was held in this town in 
 the spring of 1637, for the choice of governor and as- 
 sistants, the grave Boston pastor climbed into a tree 
 and harangued the people with such effect, that they 
 immediately insisted on taking the vote, which re- 
 sulted in the triumph of Winthrop and his party. 
 " Blessings on his meek head ! " says his living suc- 
 cessor.! " His zeal had no mixture of sternness in 
 
 * It was then thought necessary to the complete organization of a 
 church that there should be a teacher to indoctrinate, instruct, and con- 
 vince, a pastor to exhort and persuade, and one or more ruling elders to 
 assist in the government and discipline of the church, and to conduct the 
 religious services in case of the absence or sickness of the pastor and 
 teacher, who divided the labors of the Sabbath between them ; besides 
 the deacons, who had charge of the funds of the church. 
 
 f Rev. N. L. Frothingham, in his Second Century Discourse. 
 
30 
 
 it. He was a pattern of wisdom and gentleness in 
 an age which needed it all." 
 
 Among his brethren who appear in the scene as it 
 rises before us out of the mist of time, we may dis- 
 cern James and Symmes, of Charlestown, and Phil- 
 lips,* of Watertown, the fellow-passenger of Win- 
 throp in the Arabella, of whom the governor writes, 
 at his death, as "a godly man, specially gifted, and 
 very peaceful in his place, much lamented of his own 
 people and others." And in another seat is the future 
 pastor of Concord, one of the strictest of the Puritans, 
 Peter Bulkley ; t a gentleman by birth and education, 
 a scholar of no mean attainments, with a well-furnish- 
 ed library (of which he gave a considerable part to the 
 College in this place) and a large estate, of which he 
 made most bountiful and judicious use in the advance- 
 ment of private and public good. 
 
 Another glance shows us Richard Mather, of Dor- 
 chester, an eminent divine and controversialist, and 
 the progenitor of the many distinguished ministers of 
 that name. His neighbour, the pastor of Roxbury, 
 that zealous opponent of the new lights of his time, 
 Thomas Weld, now chiefly remembered as the author 
 
 * A visiter, I presume, at the solemnity, though there was no formal 
 delegation from his church, which, in its thorough-going principles of In- 
 dependency, as we learn from Lechford and Winthrop, did not send 
 11 messengers " to any other church-gathering or ordination, and did not 
 invite any to its own. 
 
 f Soon after his arrival in this country, he became one of the residents 
 and proprietors of Cambridge. The gathering of the Concord church 
 took place the summer following our own, and in our Cambridge sanc- 
 tuary. 
 
31 
 
 of M The Rise, Reign, and Ruin of the Antinomians," 
 has accompanied him on the way, and has taken his 
 place among the delegates of the invited churches. 
 And there, too, is his beloved colleague, the self- 
 sacrificing and tender-hearted Eliot ; the apostle to 
 the Indians, and their devoted and unflinching friend, 
 the first and most efficient Protestant missionary to 
 these wild men of the soil, who, a few years after this, 
 with the aid of Gookin, one of the distinguished in- 
 habitants of this place, commenced his labors among 
 the savages, and made his first conversions at Nonan- 
 tum, then lying within the limits of Cambridge. 
 His efforts and sacrifices were rewarded indeed with 
 but a temporary and inadequate success ; but his lov- 
 ing and saintly spirit enjoyed its reward, as it still 
 toiled on in patience and hope. 
 
 Hugh Peters, too (a name not to be forgotten), 
 who, with Vane and others, had arrived in New Eng- 
 land the preceding autumn, and was now in Boston 
 or the neighbourhood (for he was not settled at Salem 
 till December, 1636), was in all probability at the 
 gathering of our Cambridge church. He, too, was 
 one of the remarkable men of a remarkable period ; 
 and afterwards became a conspicuous actor in the 
 revolutionary scenes in the time of Charles the First. 
 He was the chaplain and counsellor of Cromwell ; 
 distinguished by a quaint and homely, but original, 
 vigorous, Latimer-like eloquence, which made him one 
 of the most popular and effective preachers of his 
 time ; an ardent, resolute, active, and enterprising 
 
32 
 
 man, lion-hearted and trumpet-tongued, entering with 
 characti ristic enthusiasm and energy into the political 
 as well as religious controversies of the day, ready to 
 fight or pray, as his services might be wanted, and 
 finally, like Vane, dying upon the scaffold, and, like 
 Vane, meeting his fate with an unshaken fortitude and 
 heroism. While he was in this country, his ministry 
 at Salem, and his spirited public services of various 
 kinds, made him a rich blessing to the town and the 
 state in which he lived. Of quick mind and versatile 
 talents, ready to act upon all occasions and in all 
 matters, temporal as well as spiritual, the influence of 
 his counsels and wise suggestions, of his labors and 
 successful example, left a deep and enduring impres- 
 sion upon the character of his Salem flock.* 
 
 But time would fail me to speak fully of the hon- 
 ored and useful men, both among the laity and the 
 clergy, who, we have good reason to believe, stood 
 sponsors at the christening of our ancient church. I 
 can only mention the names of such men as Richard 
 Bellingham,f and Simon Bradstreet, one of the first 
 settlers of Cambridge, both of them afterwards chosen 
 
 * Hugh Peters was father-in-law to the younger Winthrop. He was 
 an active friend of the College. In 1641, he went as agent in behalf 
 of the colony to England, but never returned to this country. 
 
 f Bellingham died governor, in 1672. Bradstreet, the Nestor of the 
 Massachusetts colony, whose life nearly covered the century, dying in 
 1697, at the age of ninety-four, was at the head of the government when 
 lie was nearly ninety, and was sixty years in public office. He married 
 a daughter of Thomas Dudley, a lady of poetical talent and literary ac- 
 complishments, whom Cotton Mather bedaubs with pedantic praises. 
 
33 
 
 several times to the chief magistracy, in Massachu- 
 setts, — William Coddington, a wealthy Boston mer- 
 chant, of high character, a friend and supporter of 
 Mrs. Hutchinson, and afterwards among the founders 
 of Rhode Island, and its governor at his death, — 
 William Pynchon, the father of Roxbury, and then of 
 Springfield, — Increase Nowell, of Charlestown, for 
 many years secretary of the colony, — who, with oth- 
 ers of less note, filled the seats of the sanctuary. 
 
 In front of all were the pastor and the teacher of 
 the first flock here gathered, Thomas Hooker and 
 Samuel Stone, who were soon to be the spiritual 
 fathers of another colony at Hartford.* Hooker also 
 was one of the admired and renowned preachers of 
 his time, and became to Connecticut what Cotton was 
 to Massachusetts, its ecclesiastical patriarch and 
 oracle, — "the light of the western churches. 
 
 " So piercing was his holy ministry, 
 Each ear that heard him said, He spake to we." f 
 
 * Hartford was named after the birthplace of Stone. In a " Thre- 
 nodia upon our Churches' second dark Eclipse, happening July 20, 1663, 
 by Death's Interposition between us and that great Light and Divine 
 Planet, Mr. Samuel Stone, late of Hartford, in New England," are 
 the following lines : 
 
 " In Hartford Old, Stone first drew infant breath, 
 In New, effused his last : O, there beneath 
 His corps are laid, near to his darling brother, 
 Of whom dead oft he sighed, Not such another. 
 Heaven is the more desirable, said he, 
 For Hooker , Shepard, Haynes's company." 
 
 Morton's N. E. Mem., p. 303. 
 f P. Bulkley's Lines on the Death of Hooker, in Morton's Memorial. 
 5 
 
34 
 
 "His colleague, Stone," as his contemporary, Mor- 
 ton, testifies, " was another star of the first magnitude 
 in New England," — "a learned, solid, and judicious 
 divine," celebrated not only for his ability as a dis- 
 putant, but for his wit, pleasantry, and good-humor. 
 The close of his life was agitated and embittered by 
 a schism in his church, growing out of a controversy 
 between him and the ruling elder upon some ec- 
 clesiastical questions, in which all the neighbouring 
 churches became involved. His future antagonist 
 now sits by his side, in the picture before the mind's 
 eye of the church-gathering at Newtown. Once be- 
 fore this he dimly makes his appearance in the annals 
 of the time, at the session already referred to of the 
 General Court, in which he was one of the deputies 
 from this place, when, as we read, " Mr. Goodwin, a 
 very reverend and godly man, being the elder of the 
 congregation at Newtown, having in the heat of ar- 
 gument" (probably about the removal to Connecticut) 
 " used some unreverend speech to one of the assist- 
 ants, and being reproved for the same in the open 
 Court, did gravely and humbly acknowledge his 
 fault."* 
 
 In the elder's seat, under the pulpit, and fronting 
 the congregation, is seen " a poore, weak, pale-com- 
 plectioned man," in clerical garb, with arms folded 
 under his velvet cloak, of humble, devout aspect, with 
 
 * Winthrop, Vol. I., p. 142. 
 
35 
 
 a shade of anxiety and sadness* upon his counte- 
 nance, and in the attitude of meditation and prayer. 
 It is the " faithful and famous " Shepard, the future 
 pastor of the Cambridge flock, under whose ministry 
 the history of our church is commonly reckoned to 
 begin ; — a man of fervent, childlike piety, of great 
 simplicity and earnestness, of humble and affectionate 
 spirit, wholly devoted to his Master and his Master's 
 work, and eminently blessed in his ministrations ; — the 
 author of several doctrinal and practical works, in 
 high esteem among his contemporaries, though now 
 scarcely to be met with except in our College library 
 or on the shelves of the antiquarian; — a preacher of 
 uncommon unction and power, with that peculiar gift, 
 not always to be distinctly analyzed, which makes a 
 man eloquent in the pulpit and wise in winning, souls, 
 even without great genius or personal advantages. 
 " His natural parts were weak, but spent to the full." t 
 " Though his voice was low, yet so searching was his 
 preaching and so great a power attending, as a hypo- 
 crite could not easily bear it, and it seemed almost 
 
 * His wife was then in the last stage of a consumption, brought on by 
 the exposure and fatigues of the voyage with an infant child, and died a 
 fortnight after. Shepard was tenderly attached to her. The ocean- 
 rocked boy, her only surviving child, baptized on the Sunday following 
 the church-gathering, became the minister of Charlestown, and was suc- 
 ceeded at his death by his only son, of the same name. All were short- 
 lived. Shepard's second wife was a daughter of Thomas Hooker. His 
 third wife, who survived him, married his successor, Jonathan Mitch- 
 ell. Besides Thomas, he had two other sons, Samuel and Jeremiah, 
 who were also settled in the ministry, and were highly beloved and re- 
 spected. 
 
 f Johnson. 
 
36 
 
 irresistible."* It was the cry of a prophet's warning, 
 uttered in the tone of affectionate entreaty. 
 
 11 A parish priest was of the Pilgrim train, 
 An awful, reverend, and religious man. 
 
 He bore his great commission in his look, 
 But sweetly tempered awe, and softened all he spoke ; 
 He preached the joys of heaven and pains of hell, 
 And warned the sinner with becoming zeal, — 
 But on eternal mercy loved to dwell." f 
 
 By his side are two others J of the new company, 
 just settled here, who are to take part with him in the 
 exercises of the day, the ruling elder and the deacon, 
 hereafter to be chosen, of the newly organized church. 
 Near them, as the eye glances over the assembly, an- 
 other group of our own townsmen attracts our notice, 
 — the first five^ who enter with them into church- 
 covenant, among whom, besides the loved and faithful 
 brother of Shepard, we discern one who has shown 
 
 # Prince. f Dryden. 
 
 J These, I have little doubt, were Edmund Frost, and Thomas Mar- 
 riot, or Marrett, as the name was afterwards written, — the same who 
 held the offices of ruling elder and deacon in 1658, as appears from the 
 list of church-members at that time, in the Appendix to this -discourse. 
 Richard Champney and Gregory Stone were their associates in office, in 
 1658, and were among the early members of the church ; but, as I am led 
 to think from a fact stated in the Appendix, they did not join it during 
 the first month. 
 
 § These we may conjecture to have been Roger Harlackenden, Joseph 
 Cooke, Nicholas Danforth, Samuel Shepard, and George Cooke; as be- 
 ing the men of most note among the first twelve who, in addition to 
 T. Shepard, Frost, and Marriot, appear to have joined the church before 
 March 3d, 1636. I was pleasantly surprised by the discovery of the 
 names of the original members of the church, which I had supposed 
 to be among the buried, irrecoverable things of the past. See Appendix. 
 
37 
 
 him a brother's affection and care, his protector and 
 supporter in his native land, his companion to the 
 New World, of whom Shepard speaks as his " most 
 dear friend, that most precious servant of Jesus 
 Christ," Roger Harlackenden,* — " a young gentle- 
 man, valiant in faith," "of good family and estate," 
 in high esteem through the community, whose early 
 death, in 1638, at the age of twenty-seven, was a 
 great grief to his pastor, and an affliction not only 
 to the town, but to the colony, in which he was al- 
 ready honorably distinguished. 
 
 Such was the congregation now assembled in de- 
 vout silence to witness or take part in the solemnity. 
 The records of our Cambridge church for the first sixty 
 years, with the exception of a single fragment, t which 
 has been picked up from the wreck, have been unfor- 
 tunately lost ; at what time, and by what accident, I 
 have never been able to ascertain. The only account 
 which we have of the transaction is found in the in- 
 valuable Journal, so often quoted, of Governor Win- 
 
 # Winthrop, under date of November 17th, 1638, has the following 
 notice of him : — "Roger Herlakenden, one of our magistrates, about 
 
 thirty years of age, second son of Herlakenden, of Earl's 
 
 Colne, in Essex, Esq., died at Cambridge, of the small-pox. He was 
 a very godly man, and of good use, both in the commonwealth and in 
 the church. He was buried with military honor, because he was lieuten- 
 ant-colonel. He left behind a virtuous gentlewoman and two daughters. 
 He died in great peace, and left a sweet memorial behind him of his piety 
 and virtue." His sister, Mabell, who came over with him, married 
 Governor Haynes. 
 
 f A list of church-members, with their children, in 1658, and for a 
 few years after, which will be found in the Appendix. 
 
38 
 
 throp, himself no doubt an eyewitness of the scene. 
 The fulness of this account, compared with his no- 
 tices of other similar occasions, seems to me to indi- 
 cate a peculiar interest in it. This is the record 
 which he makes in his Journal : — 
 
 " 1635, Mo. 12. 1. Mr. Shepherd, a godly minister, 
 come lately out of England, and divers other good 
 Christians, intending to raise a church body, came and 
 acquainted the magistrates therewith, who gave their 
 approbation. They also sent to all the neighbouring 
 churches for their elders to give their assistance at a 
 certain day, at Newtown, when they should constitute 
 their body. Accordingly, at this day, there met a 
 great assembly, where the proceeding was as follow- 
 eth : — Mr. Shepherd and two others (who were after 
 to be chosen to office), sate together in the elder's 
 seat. Then the elder of them began with prayer. 
 After this Mr. Shepherd prayed with deep confession 
 of sin, &cc, and exercised out of Eph. v., — that he 
 might make it to himself a holy, &c. ; and also open- 
 ed the cause of their meeting, 8cc. Then the elder 
 desired to know of the churches assembled, what 
 number were needful to make a church, and how* they 
 ought to proceed in this action. Whereupon, some of 
 the ancient ministers, conferring shortly together, gave 
 answer : That the Scripture did not set down any 
 certain rule for the number. Three (they thought,) 
 were too few, because by Matt, xviii. an appeal was 
 allowed from three ; but that seven might be a fit 
 number. And, for their proceeding, they advised, 
 
39 
 
 that such as were to join should make confession of 
 their faith, and declare what work of grace the Lord 
 had wrought in them ; which accordingly they did, 
 Mr. Shepherd first, then four others, then the elder, and 
 one who was to be deacon (who had also prayed), 
 and another member. Then the covenant was read, 
 and they all gave a solemn assent to it. Then the 
 elder desired of the churches, that, if they did approve 
 them to be a church, they would give them the right 
 hand of fellowship. Whereupon, Mr. Cotton (upon 
 short speech with some others near him), in the name 
 of their churches, gave his hand to the elder, with a 
 short speech of their assent, and desired the peace of 
 the Lord Jesus to be with them. Then Mr. Shepherd 
 made an exhortation to the rest of his body, about the 
 nature of their covenant, and to stand firm to it, and 
 commended them to the Lord in a most heavenly 
 prayer. Then the elder told the assembly, that they 
 were intended to choose Mr. Shepherd for their pastor 
 (by the name of the brother who had exercised), and 
 desired the churches, that, if they had any thing to 
 except against him, they would impart it to them 
 before the day of ordination. Then he gave the 
 churches thanks for their assistance, and so left them 
 to the Lord." 
 
 This is dated the first day of the twelfth month of 
 1635. In the times of our ancestors, the year began 
 on the 25th of March, which was reckoned the first 
 month, and February the twelfth. Adding ten days 
 
40 
 
 for the difference between Old Style and New, the 
 date of the gathering is February 11th, 1636. 
 
 Seven generations, then, have just " passed on," 
 since the first permanent church in Cambridge was 
 solemnly organized, in the presence of a cloud of 
 honored witnesses, according to the simple usages of 
 our Congregational fathers. I have thought that it 
 might not be improper or uninteresting to commem- 
 orate the occasion with some historical notices like 
 those which I have endeavoured to present to you. 
 It is good for us from time to time to visit the Mount 
 Auburn of memory, to stand by the tombs of departed 
 sages and prophets, and to read again upon the sunken 
 monuments the moss-covered inscriptions which tell 
 us of their labors and merits. We need not deny, 
 and we need not forget, their faults. We will remem- 
 ber them as warnings and beacons. Where, through 
 human infirmity, and sore temptation, and the pressure 
 and spirit of the age, they were inconsistent with 
 themselves and false to their principles, we may read 
 a lesson for our own times without harsh judgments 
 upon their memory. We may notice, that we may 
 avoid their errors. But it is pleasanter to dwell upon 
 the beautiful image of their virtues, revealing itself 
 more and more distinctly as we gaze back into the 
 dim and scattered records of the past. It is more 
 honorable and more edifying to study the glorious 
 everlasting truths and principles which they main- 
 tained and illustrated, than with carrion appetite to 
 
41 
 
 hunt out the dead follies, superstitions, and exploded 
 opinions which were unhappily mingled with them. 
 If we cannot agree with them in the whole of their 
 theological cueed, we can agree with them in their 
 religious spirit. If we cannot adopt their doctrinal 
 phraseology, we can admire and cherish their religious 
 faith. If, in the light of what we deem to be a juster 
 interpretation of the Scriptures, and a sounder reason- 
 ing, we are forced to reject their Calvinism, we can 
 nevertheless honor and maintain as firmly and steadily 
 as they the precious truth which was inclosed and 
 incrusted within it, like the diamond in the rough rock. 
 If, in this elder age of the world, we can no longer 
 believe with them in witches and apparitions, in omens 
 and dreams, we can believe as devoutly as they in the 
 ever-living, ever-loving God, and in the invisible world 
 on whose borders we are standing. If, from our pres- 
 ent point of view, we must condemn or deplore their 
 occasional exclusiveness and intolerance, their vio- 
 lations of the rights of the individual conscience, 
 their bitterness of language and inquisitorial harshness 
 of dealing in the treatment of their heretics, we can 
 gladly and reverently acknowledge — we should filially 
 love and copy — their noble zeal for the glory of God, 
 for the honor of Christ, for the propagation of his 
 gospel, for the establishment of his law, for the diffu- 
 sion of his spirit. Where they were right, we will 
 follow them ; where they were wrong, we will leave 
 them for the truer and better path, till it strikes again 
 into theirs. Where they were mistaken, God forbid 
 
42 
 
 that we should repeat their errors for the sake of their 
 company, however unwillingly we may part from it. 
 But where they have left us wise and winning exam- 
 ples, — where they have gone before us«in the way to 
 heaven in shining garments, — God forbid that we 
 should ever be recreant to our ancestry. We should 
 hold faster to the Christian principles and the Chris- 
 tian virtues which are associated with their names. 
 
 A few days since, I ascended into the tower of this 
 church, and surveyed the animating and beautiful 
 scene upon which it looks. Around me in every di- 
 rection I saw thriving villages, from which a thousand 
 busy and cheerful smokes curled upward into the sky ; 
 to the east, the populous city, crowned with its state- 
 ly dome and pointing heavenward with its spires ; 
 close by, the College edifices, — the crowded grave- 
 yard, — the churches of the Episcopal and Baptist 
 dissenters from the old Congregational establishment, 
 the sight or foresight of which would have made 
 Dudley's * heart ache. At a distance, the steam of 
 the locomotive hung like a low cloud over the ground, 
 as the long train shot swiftly by ; — below me, multi- 
 tudes of sleighs and pleasure-parties were sailing over 
 the frozen roads ; — the sounds of business and of 
 merriment came mingling up into the air. 
 
 As I gazed upon the scene around me, so full of 
 
 * His farewell lines, found upon him after his death, have been often 
 quoted : — 
 
 11 Let men of God in courts and churches watch 
 O'er such as do a toleration hatch." 
 
43 
 
 prosperity and promise, all radiant with the light of 
 New England industry and New England enterprise, 
 I could not help contrasting it with that which pre- 
 sented itself, to the eyes of Winthrop when he first 
 pitched his tent in midwinter upon this then unin- 
 habited spot. My thoughts went back to the time of 
 Hooker and Shepard, — to the day of small things, — 
 when only here and there could be seen a little cluster 
 of newly finished and unpainted houses, rising amidst 
 wild grounds, hitherto undisturbed except by the 
 sounds of nature's offspring, the howl of the wolf, or 
 the shout of the savage. I ascended in imagination 
 the turret of the first plain church where our fathers 
 worshipped ; — and all around was as yet a desert, 
 though Faith illumined it with the presence of their 
 God, and Hope brightened it with her visions of the 
 coming future. As I looked upon the fosse and pali- 
 sade, the Indian settlement at Nonantum came up 
 before me ; — and the listening group of the red child- 
 ren of the soil, as they reverently gathered around the 
 apostolic Eliot on his first visit to their wigwams, two 
 centuries ago this very year. I saw walking by his 
 side the tall, straight form of the black-haired Waban,* 
 — the first fruits of his zealous and persevering min- 
 istry, — affectionately accompanying his teacher on 
 his way back to his Roxbury home. Could they now 
 
 * See Life of Eliot, by Rev. Dr. Francis, in Sparks's American Bi- 
 ography, Vol. V., pp. 48, 50, et seq. The name of this Indian chief ap- 
 pears also in our town records, in a business contract signed by him 
 with " his mark," in 1647. 
 
44 
 
 rise from their graves, and return to the world as 
 they left it, and, reentering the tabernacle of flesh, 
 view the places which once knew them with the same 
 powers, the same eyes, as of yore, with what amaze- 
 ment would they behold the transformation that two 
 centuries have accomplished ! What a strange mix- 
 ture of the familiar and well remembered objects 
 among which they once dwelt and moved with the 
 gradual additions of after generations, with the novel- 
 ties and improvements of the nineteenth century, with 
 the inventions of modern comfort, the splendors of 
 modern luxury, and the wonders of our iron roads ! 
 
 But in thus contemplating the changes which have 
 taken place since their time in the scenes around us, 
 I remembered that the great essential features of the 
 landscape still remain the same. One generation of 
 men passeth away, and another generation cometh ; 
 but the earth abideth for ever. Nature and the laws 
 of nature, the year and the seasons, go on as at the 
 beginning and as in the days of our fathers. The 
 same wood-crowned hill, which rose upon their eyes, 
 rises upon ours. The same river, which winded its 
 way along the fields of the Pilgrims, and by a defen- 
 sive palisade, still winds its way by the cultivated and 
 thick-settled villages of their descendants. The same 
 soft outline edges the horizon ; the same sun shines 
 down lovingly upon all ; the same azure firmament 
 bends over them ; the same ever-burning stars light 
 up the evening sky. In the grandeur and mild beauty 
 of the unchanging forms of his creation, God is still 
 
45 
 
 speaking to us the language which he spake to them 
 of old time. It is the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 for ever. 
 
 And as it is with the sky, and soil, and face of the 
 landscape, so may it be with the character of our 
 people. With these changes upon the surface, may it 
 ever show itself to be at heart, and in its great fea- 
 tures, the same essentially as it was two centuries ago. 
 In all that was noble and w r orthy, useful and good, in 
 the parent stock, let it be our aim and our earnest 
 endeavour to remain true to our ancestry, worthy of 
 our calling, and to transmit to our posterity the refined 
 and purified spirit of the Pilgrims, — the gold cleared 
 from the dross. 
 
 We stand in their places. They have committed 
 the torch of freedom and truth to our hands. We 
 must bear it aloft in their spirit, if not with their 
 creed. " Contend earnestly for the faith as it was 
 once delivered to the saints," was their motto ; and, 
 according to their idea of that faith, they were true to 
 it. " Contend earnestly for the faith as it was once 
 delivered to the saints," should be the motto of this 
 church still, — and should be written in letters of light 
 over its walls. The Christianity of Jesus Christ, — 
 the truth as it spoke from his lips, as it shone out 
 from his life, — the pure and undefiled religion which 
 came down from heaven, — may this church hold it 
 fast and hold it forth with a holy zeal united always 
 with a holy charity and love. 
 
 Brethren, let us begin the new year of our church 
 
46 
 
 in the purified spirit of our fathers. Let us begin the 
 new year of our church with a determination to do 
 what we can, each and all, to make it more worthy 
 than it has been of its Christian name, and privileges, 
 and hopes. Let the warm blood of a living faith and 
 a free-flowing charity circulate through its veins, and 
 give it a more vigorous life. Let its winter birthday 
 find summer and sunshine in the heart. Let the First 
 Church in Cambridge be ever among the first in all 
 good things. 
 
 And now " unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is 
 named, — unto Him be glory in the church by Christ 
 Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end. 
 Amen." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 In the original Colony Records at the State-House in Boston, I found 
 in the list of freemen admitted March 3, 1636, a month after the Cam- 
 bridge church-gathering, the following names, arranged in the order in 
 which they here stand, namely : — 
 
 Roger Harlackendine, Esq., 
 
 Mr. Joseph Cooke, 
 
 Mr. George Cooke, 
 
 Mr. Nicholas Danforth, 
 
 Thomas Marryot, 
 
 Mr. Samuel Shepheard, 
 
 Wm. French, 
 
 Simon Crosby, 
 
 Thomas Cheeseholme, 
 
 John Russell, 
 
 Passevil Greene, 
 
 Mr. Hugh Peters, 
 
 Thomas Bloyett, 
 
 Edmond Frost, 
 
 Mr. Thomas Shepheard, 
 
 Henry Vane, Esq. 
 
 These fifteen names preceding that of Vane, — which is separated 
 
 from them by a little dash, as in the original, — are, with the exception 
 
 of Hugh Peters,* the names of men who are known from the town 
 
 records to have been inhabitants of Cambridge. These freemen were, 
 
 * With what church, if any, Hugh Peters had connected himself, is not 
 known to me. Possibly in his case the usual condition was dispensed with. 
 He did not settle at Salem till the December following. 
 
48 
 
 of course, members of the church; and as the Court, at which they 
 were admitted, and before which they personally appeared to take the 
 freeman's oath, was held that month in Cambridge, it is probable that 
 all who were then in church-fellowship here availed themselves of the 
 opportunity of obtaining the privileges of freemen. They appear to have 
 come in a body to the Court, and the order of their names is probably the 
 order in which they were admitted, those of highest standing being re- 
 ceived and enrolled first. The title of Esquire, attached to the names of 
 Harlackenden and Vane, was given at that time only to those of a cer- 
 tain rank or office. These two, with Governor Haynes, another of the 
 English gentry, are the only ones among the Massachusetts emigrants 
 after ^'inthrop who appear to have had this title before coming to this 
 country. Here it was also given to the governor, deputy-governor, and 
 assistants of the colony. The title of Mr., too, was not the common ap- 
 pellation which it now is, but somewhat aristocratic, and was confined to 
 those of a certain station in society. Out of the forty-seven freemen ad- 
 mitted in March, with Vane and Harlackenden, there are only seven so 
 honored ; all but one being of Cambridge. In 1635, out of the one hundred 
 and forty-four admitted, there are only seven Mr.'s. Thomas Marryot, 
 however, stands on the list before Mr. Samuel Shepheard, who probably 
 gave way to him on account of his age and his office of deacon. It will be 
 observed, also, that in this list of our Cambridge people, the names of Ed- 
 mond Frost and Thomas Shepheard stand last, as if the ruling elder and 
 the pastor had come in together after the others, or chose to be placed last. 
 Hugh Peters may have been in company with his Cambridge friends, 
 perhaps on a visit here, and came in with them into the Court to be ad- 
 mitted freeman. Possibly he may have connected himself for this pur- 
 pose with our Cambridge church. But there is no record to determine 
 the fact. 
 
 On the 25th of May, 1636, four others, known to be of Cambridge, were 
 admitted freemen, and were of course among the first members of our 
 church, namely: —Richard Champney, Gregory Stone, Edward Goffe, 
 Thomas Judd. 
 
 In addition to the names above given, that of Mr. Clement Chaplain, 
 whom we also know to have been at that time a resident of Cambridge, 
 stands by itself at the head of the freemen admitted in March, 1636. 
 
 We thus find the names of eighteen, at least, besides Shepard, who 
 were in all probability members of our Cambridge church at its first or- 
 ganization, or within four months after; and, we may presume, the only 
 male members at that period. These, with their wives, constituted the 
 original church. About half of them will be found among the members 
 recorded as still living in 1658, in Mitchell's list, — the fragment which 
 helps us to cross the sixty years' chasm in our records. 
 
49 
 
 Shepard, in his autobiography, tells us, that his wife, Margaret, en- 
 tered into church fellowship before her death. The names of the wives 
 of the persons above mentioned, as presumed to be the first members of the 
 church, are Elizabeth Harlackenden, Thomasine Frost, Jane Champney, 
 Susan Marrett, Lydia Stone, Elisabeth French, Ann Crosby, Isabel 
 Cheeseholme, Susan Bloggett, Ellen Green, Joyce Goffe. Elisabeth (wife 
 of Joseph) Cooke, Alice (wife of George) Cooke, and Hannah (wife of 
 Samuel) Shepard, were probably not married at the time of the gather- 
 ing. The names of the wives of Danforth, Russell, Judd, and Chaplain 
 (if all married), I have not been able to ascertain. 
 
 Roger Harlackenden, the principal man in Shepard's company, has 
 already been noticed in the discourse. He was married to Elizabeth, 
 daughter of Godfrey Bosseville, June 4, 1635, and about the 10th of Au- 
 gust (as Shepard tells us) set sail with his young bride, and his sister 
 Mabel, to seek a new home, and to find an early grave, in America. He 
 was one of those who " took New England in their way to heaven." 
 Hubbard says that he came in the same ship with Vane. From Shepard's 
 autobiography, and from a manuscript register recently discovered in one 
 of the public offices in London, containing the names of persons permitted 
 to embark at London for this country in 1635,* we learn that Harlacken- 
 den came in company with Thomas and Samuel Shepard, the two Cookes, 
 William French, and the ministers Wilson and Jones. He settled with his 
 chosen pastor at Cambridge, where he purchased the house and estate of 
 Dudley, who removed to Ipswich, and afterwards to Roxbury. His con- 
 tinued attachment to Shepard is expressed in his will (in Suffolk Probate 
 Records), in which it appears that he left him a legacy. His elder 
 brother, Richard Harlackenden, seems to have had some intention of emi- 
 grating to New England, and a farm of six hundred acres was granted to 
 him, on condition of his coming over within a certain period ; but he never 
 came, and the land was transferred to Roger. He is erroneously enumer- 
 
 * See Savage's Gleanings, in the Mass. Hist. Coll., 3d Series, Vol. VIII. 
 In this document, — first examined and made known to us by Mr. Savage, — 
 Thomas Shepard appears to be registered under the assumed name of" John 
 Shepard, a husbandman," followed by the true names and ages of his wife 
 and infant child. He was one of the proscribed ministers, and was com- 
 pelled to conceal nis name in order to escape from the country. In the same 
 register, S. Shepard, William French, Joseph Cooke, and his brother George 
 (whose name is there written Cocke, instead of Cooke) are recorded as ser- 
 vants of Harlackenden. They appeared in this character for the purpose, no 
 doubt, of evading some of the tyrannical regulations then in force. 
 7 
 
50 
 
 ated in Holmes's History of Cambridge among the first proprietors and 
 settlers of this place. It appears from the " Gleanings " of Mr. Savage, 
 to whom the students of our ancient New England history are so largely 
 indebted, that Richard died at an advanced age, at the family seat, I sup- 
 pose, in Essex. 
 
 Five of the first church-members, namely, Harlackenden, Danforth,* 
 Green, Crosby, and Bloggett, died within four years after their arrival. 
 Chaplain (elected representative in 1636) and Judd removed to Hartford. 
 Danforth was one of our enterprising and influential inhabitants, and was 
 often employed in public trusts by his townsmen ; as were the two 
 Cookes, Russell, Chaplain, and S. Shepard, while they remained here. 
 George Cooke commanded the company which was sent to apprehend 
 Gorton and his associates, was speaker of the House of Deputies in 1645, 
 and afterwards became a colonel in the service of Cromwell, in Ireland ; 
 where also (as appears on page 54) Samuel Shepard was living in 1658, 
 with the rank of major. French removed to Billerica, where numerous 
 descendants of his are now living. He died in 1681 . Cheeseholme became 
 a deacon of the church, and died August 18, 1671. Goffe f died Decem- 
 ber 26, 1658. Champney died in 1669. He is called " Elder Champ- 
 ney " in the town records, under date of February, 1637. His colleague, 
 Frost, is also designated at that time by the same title. Frost died in 
 1672. His posterity are still among us. Deacon Marrett died June 30, 
 1664, aged 75. Gregory Stone, another of the first deacons, brother of 
 the Rev. Samuel Stone, died November 30, 1672, aged 82. He was the 
 last survivor in Cambridge of the first eighteen, who, with Shepard, consti- 
 tuted the original church. A footstone, with the initials of his name upon 
 it, is still to be seen in our ancient burying-ground. John Cooper, the son 
 of his wife by a former husband, was a deacon of the church, and had a 
 son (Samuel) who was afterwards chosen to the same office. His oldest 
 son, John Stone, is called "Elder" in his epitaph in our church-yard. 
 He was probably elder of the church in Sudbury, where he lived for some 
 years. (See Harris's Cambridge Epitaphs, p. 179.) 
 
 The covenant which was read and agreed to at the church-gathering, is 
 not extant. It was, probably, like others of the time, a simple, and brief 
 one. That which is at present in use in our church was adopted May 
 18, 1834, and is as follows : — 
 
 " Covenant of the First Church in Cambridge. 
 
 11 We, whose names are underwritten, do solemnly acknowledge Jesus 
 
 * Nicholas Danforth died April, 1638, not 1637, as Farmer has it. 
 t Mentioned by Shepard, in his autobiography, where lie speaks of 
 l< Brother Champney, Frost, Goffe, and diverse other most deare saints." 
 
51 
 
 Christ to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, as he is repre- 
 sented in the New Testament ; and, as his disciples, we do now express 
 our earnest desire and intention to live a holy, religious, and useful life, 
 after the example and in the spirit of our Lord. We do also purpose to 
 walk with the church, while we have opportunity, in a regular attendance 
 on Christian ordinances, in the promotion of Christian truth and charity, 
 and in the exercise of those acts of Christian fellowship and affection, 
 which the relation in which we stand to one another may seem to us to 
 demand."* 
 
 The list of church members, &c, in the time of Mitchell, which here 
 follows, was found in 1815, by my predecessor, the Rev. Dr. Holmes, in 
 the Prince collection of manuscripts, then deposited in the library of the 
 Old South Church, in Boston. The original manuscript, in eighteen 
 folio pages, with double columns, worn, faded, and discolored, is now 
 bound up in the first volume of our church records, which commence with 
 the ministry of Brattle, in November, 1696. On the first blank leaf, in 
 the handwriting of Rev. Thomas Prince, formerly minister of the Old 
 South, is written, — "List of members in the Church of Cambridge in 
 y e handwriting of y e Rev. Mr. Jonathan Mitchell." This being the only 
 ancient document of this kind which has come down to us, I have thought 
 it worth while to print and preserve it for the use of those who are curi- 
 ous in such matters and interested in genealogical inquiries. 
 
 N. B. f. c. stands for " full communion." This abbreviation, which 
 frequently occurs in the original, will be used throughout. 
 
 The Church of Christ at Cambridge, in N. E , or, the Names of all the 
 Members thereof that are in Full Communion; together ivith their 
 children who were either baptized in this Church, or {coming from 
 other churches) were in their minority at their parents joyning ; 
 taken and registered in the 11. month, 1658. 
 
 MR. THOMAS SHEPARD, late faithfull and famous pastour of this 
 Church of Christ at Cambridge, was translated hence unto the Church 
 triumphant, 25. of 6th m. 1649, and left behind him 4 sonnes, 3 whereof 
 
 * It is usual for those who become members of the church to sign their 
 names to this covenant, or to signify their assent to it to the pastor, or, in 
 case of his absence, to one of the deacons. If any individual should decline, 
 from conscientious scruples, to sign or assent to the covenant, the pastor has, 
 in such a case, a discretionary power to dispense with the observance of this 
 form. 
 
52 
 
 are now living; namely, Thomas, admitted to f. c. with us March 28, 
 1656 ; and now lately dismissed to the Ch. of Christ at Charlestowne 
 for the work of y e ministry there. Samuel, baptized in this church ; 
 admitted into f. c. July 19, 1663; dismissed to Rowley, August 13, 
 1665 ; ordained pastour there Novemb. 15, 1665. Jeremiah, baptized 
 in this church. 
 
 JONATHAN MITCHELL, present pastour of this Church, and Mar- 
 garet, his wife. Their children now living are, Nathaniel, baptized 
 here. John, baptized here; departed this life Octob. 29, 1659, about 
 2 of clock in y e morning. Samuel, born Octob. 14, 1660; baptized 
 Octob. 21, 1660. 
 
 RICHARD CHAMPNY, Ruling elder, and Jane, His wife, in f. c. ; 
 their children, yet living, Esther Champney, now [Convers], living 
 at Wooburne, baptized in England, aged about six years when her 
 ffather joyned here ; Samuel, admitted into f. c. Octob. 18, '61 ; Lydia, 
 admitted into f. c. May 31 ; Daniel, admitted into f. c. March 7, 1663; 
 Samuel, Lydia, and Daniel, baptized in this Church. 
 
 EDMUND FROST, Ruling Elder also of this Church, and Thomas- 
 Anne, his Wife, in f. c. Their children, John, Samuel, Joseph, 
 James, Mary, Ephraim, Thomas, and Sarah, All baptized in this 
 Church: save John, who was baptized in England, being about — 
 old when his father joyned here. 
 
 CAPTAIN DANIEL GOOKIN,* and Mary, his wife, both in f. c. Their 
 children, Mary and Elizabeth, baptized elsewhere, but the elder not 
 full 6 yeares old when their parents joyned in this Ch. ; both admitted 
 into f. c. May 23, 1665. Daniel, Samuel, and Nathaniel, borne and 
 baptized here. 
 
 MR. CHARLES CHAUNCY, President of the Colledge, and Catharine, 
 his wife, dismissed hither from the Ch. at Situate, and joyned here in 
 y e 1st month of y e yeare 1656. Their children,! Barnabas and Sarah, 
 admitted also into f. c. Decemb. 10, 1658. Hannah, Nathaniel, El- 
 nathan, and Israel, baptized at Situate. 
 
 JOHN HOLMES, a Student and servant to Mr. Chauncy, in f. c. with 
 us, adult; dismissed to Duxbury, July 6. 
 
 MR. JOSEPH COOK, and Elizabeth, his wife, both in f. c. Their 
 children, Joseph, admitted into f. c. May 18, 1666 (his child, John, 
 baptized Januar. 26, '67) ; Elizabeth, Mary, Grace, and Ruth, all bap- 
 tized in this Ch. 
 
 * The coadjutor of Eliot and the friend of the Indians, the last major-gen- 
 eral under the old charter, a man of great firmness, integrity, and benevo- 
 lence. His son, Nathaniel, was minister of Cambridge after Oakes. 
 
 t He had two other sons, Isaac and Ichabod. All his sons were educated 
 at Harvard. 
 
53 
 
 MR. EDWARD COLLINS, Deacon of this Church, and Martha, his 
 wife, both in f. c. Their children, Daniel, now living at Konnings- 
 berg, in Prussia, about 9 yeares old when his parents joyned here ; 
 John,* admitted into f. c. before he went from hence, being now minis- 
 ter of God's word at Edinburgh, in Scotland ; Samuel, now also living 
 in Scotland (the wife of Samuel Collins admitted into f. c. May 31, 
 1664. Their child, Edward Collins, baptized June, 1664) ; Martha, 
 Nathaniel, Abigail, and Edward, borne and baptized here. 
 
 MR. JOHN WHYTING, now preacher of y e word at Salem, and Sybill, 
 his wife (daughter to y e forenamed Edward Collins), both admitted to 
 f. c. here. Both dismissed to the Church of Christ at Hartford. 
 Their children, Sybill and John both baptized here ; William baptized 
 ffebruar. 19, 1659. 
 
 MR. NATHANIEL SPARROWHAWKE, sometimes Deacon of this 
 Church ; Mary, His first, and Katharine, His second wife, all now de- 
 ceased, left with us five children; namely, 1. Nathaniel, whose wife 
 Patience is admitted into f. c. with us ; and their children are Mary and 
 Sybill, both baptized in this Ch. ; Esther, baptized May 5, 1661 ; 
 Samuel Sparrowhawke, baptized fFebr. 5, 1664 ; Nathaniel, baptized 
 Nov. 3d, 167-. 2. Anne, now the wife of John Cooper, mentioned 
 afterwards, being in f. c. 3. Mary. 4. Esther Sparrowhawke, admit- 
 ted into f. c. Decembr. 15, 1658. 5. Elizabeth, now living with Broth. 
 Thomas Cheeseholme. 
 
 GREGORY STONE, Deacon of this Ch., and Lydia, his wife, in f. c. 
 whose children, John, Daniel, David, Elizabeth, Samuel, and Sarah, 
 Also John Cooper, son of the foresaid Lydia, and Lydia Fiske, her 
 daughter, being all of them, through the Rich Grace of Christ, come 
 into f. c. with his people ; they will be mentioned afterward in their 
 places, all save John Stone, now joyned member of the Church of 
 X 1 at Sudbury, Lydia Fisk, now deceased, Elizabeth Stone, now Pot- 
 ter, living at Ipswich, Sarah Stone, now Miriam, joyned to y e Ch. at 
 Concord. 
 
 JOHN BRIDGE,! also Deacon of the Church, and Elizabeth, His wife, 
 
 * He was afterwards a celebrated preacher in London. He was the chap- 
 lain of General Monk, when he went from Scotland to England. Nathan- 
 iel was the much esteemed minister of Middletown. Cotton Mather has a 
 chapter in his Magnalia upon the Collins family, in which he says : — " There 
 was a good old man called Collins, the deacon of the church at Cambridge, 
 who is now gone to heaven ; but before he went thither, he had the satisfac- 
 tion to see several most worthy sons become very famous persons in their 
 generation." 
 
 t He was freeman in 1635, and probably joined Hooker's church before the 
 arrival of Shepard ; as did Guy Bainbridge, E. Winship, and S. Green. 
 
54 
 
 both in f. c. Under his care also is Joseph Lampson, the Son of Bar- 
 nabas Lampson, deceased, sometimes a member of this Church. Also 
 Dorcas Bridge, the Daughter of Dorcas (the wife of Thomas Bridge), 
 deceased, sometimes in f. c. with us. 
 
 THOMAS MARRIOT, Deacon of the Ch., and His wife, Susan, both 
 in f. c. Their children, John and Thomas, the elder of y m being but 
 about five years old w n his father joyned here ; But both baptized in 
 England : Hannah, now lately admitted into f. c» with us ; viz. on 
 Decembr 15, '58. 
 
 MR. (MAJOR) SAMUEL SHEPARD, and His wife, now living in 
 Ireland, doe yet stand in memberly Relation to us. And Here is with 
 us their Daughter, Jane Shepard, now under the care of Mr. Edw. 
 Collins, before named. 
 
 MR. ELIJAH CORLET,* Schoolemaster, and Barbara, his wife, both in 
 f. c. Their children, Rebeccah, Hephzibah, and Ammi Ruhamah, all 
 baptized here. 
 
 EDMUND ANGIER, a member of this Ch. in f. c. ; so was also his 
 former wife, Ruth [the Daughter of that famous Light Dr. Ames], 
 now at rest with y* Lord. Their children, now living, are Ruth, 
 Ephraim, and Samuel, all baptized in this Church ; Hannah baptized 
 Dec. 16, '60 ; Mary, baptized May 10, 1663, deceased ; Edmund, bap- 
 tized Septemb. 25, 1659, deceased; John, baptized May 15, 1664, de- 
 ceased ; Nathaniel, baptized May 14, 1665, deceased ; Elizabeth, bap- 
 tized Sept. 22, 1667. 
 
 EDWARD GOFFE, lately deceased (viz. on Decemb. 26, 1658), was 
 a member with us in f. c. ; so was and is also Margaret, his wife. 
 His children by a former wife (who was also in fellowship with this 
 Ch.) are Samuel, baptized in England, and when his father joyned 
 
 * This famous old Cambridge schoolmaster was a graduate of Oxford ; and 
 became teacher of the grammar school in this place as early as 1C43. In 
 11 New England's First Fruits," published that year, is the following passage ; 
 — " By the side of the Colledge a faire Grammar Schoole, for the training 
 up of young schollars, and fitting of them for Academical learning, that still 
 as they are judged ripe, they may be received into the Colledge of this 
 Schoole : Master Corlet is the Mr. who hath very well approved himself for 
 his abilities, dexterity, and painfulnesse in teaching and education of the 
 youths under him." He was teacher here for more than forty years. In the 
 town records, under date of Nov. 13, 1648, is the following : — " It was agreed 
 at a meeting of ye whole towne, that there should be land sold of y e Common 
 for y e gratifying of Mr. Corlet for his pains in keeping a school in ye Towne, 
 ye sum of ten pounds, if it can be attained; provided it shall not prejudice 
 y e Cow Common." His son, Ammi Ruhamah, was a Fellow of Harvard 
 College, of which he was a graduate in 1G70. 
 
55 
 
 here aged about seven years, and Lydia. His children by Margaret, 
 now living, are Deborah, Hannah, and Abiah, all baptized in this 
 Church. 
 
 JOHN STEDMAN, and Alice, his wife, both in f. c. Their children, 
 Elizabeth, Sarah, and Martha, all borne and baptized here. Elizabeth, 
 admitted into f. c. March 27, 1663 ; Sarah, admitted into f. c. May 31, 
 1664 (her child, Sarah Bracket, baptized June 5, 1664, deceased ; 
 John Bracket, baptized April 21, '67); Martha admitted into f. c. 
 May 31, '64. 
 
 EDWARD OAKES, a member in f. c. His children, Urian* and Ed- 
 ward, baptized in England ; the eldest about ten years old when His 
 father joyned here. He is now minister of y e word in England. Mary 
 and Thomas, baptized here. 
 
 RICHARD JACKSON, and Elizabeth, his wife, both members in f. c. 
 
 THOMAS DANFORTH f (eldest Son of Mr. Nicholas Danforth, de- 
 ceased), and Mary, his wife, both in f. c. Their children, Sarah, Mary, 
 Samuel, and Thomas, all baptized in this Church ; Jonathan, baptized 
 rTebr. 13, '58 ; Elizabeth, baptized Januar. 29, 1664 ; Bethiah Dan- 
 forth, baptized June 16, '67 ; Joseph Danforth, baptized Sept. 22, 
 1661, deceased Octob. 2, '63 ; Benjamin, baptized May 24, '63, de- 
 ceased August 23, '63. 
 
 SAMUEL ANDREWS (Son of Mr. William Andrews, deceased), as 
 also Elizabeth, His wife, were joyned in f. c. with us on Decemb. 10, 
 1658. Their children, Samuel and William, both baptized here in 
 this church; John, Baptized March 10, 1660-1; Elizabeth, baptized 
 April 12, 1663 ; Thomas, baptized May 21, '65, deceased ; Mary An- 
 drews, baptized Januar. 6, 1666 ; Thomas, baptized March 29, '68. 
 
 ROBERT HOLMES, is member in f. c, as was also Jane, his wife, now 
 deceased. Their children, John, Joseph, and Elizabeth, all baptized in 
 this Church. 
 
 THOMAS CHEESEHOLME, and Isabel, His Wife, are both of them 
 Members of this Ch., and in f. c. In his family, and under his Care, is 
 Benoni Eaton (Son of Mr. Nathan. Eaton), who was baptized here and 
 whose mother dyed a member of this Church. 
 
 EDWARD SHEPARD, member in f. c. So was also his first wife, 
 Violet, deceased. Their children y* were in minority when He joyned, 
 are Abigail, now living at Dedham; Deborah, now also at Dedham ; 
 and Sarah, now dwelling at Braintree. The eldest of these aged twelve 
 years, y e 2d ten, and the 3d seven years, when their Parents joyned here, 
 
 * Afterwards President of Harvard College. 
 
 t A distinguished public character, a man of ability, wisdom, and resolu- 
 tion, — deputy-governor for many years, and elected to other important 
 offices. 
 
56 
 
 being all baptized in England. Mary, now the wife of the foresaid 
 Edward Shepard, was dismissed hither from Ch. at Dorchester, and is 
 in f. c. with us. Her daughter, Mary Pond, baptized at Dorchester, 
 \v;ts eleven years old at her mother's joyning with us. 
 
 WILLIAM FRENCH, and Elizabeth, his wife, both members in f. c. 
 Their children, Elizabeth, now Elliot, and now joined at Dedham ; Ma- 
 ry, baptized in England, between two and three yeares old at Her 
 father's joyning ; John, baptized by Mr. Hooker, in Cambridge ; Sarah, 
 Jacob, and Hannah, borne and baptized in this Church. 
 
 EDWARD MITCHENSON, and Ruth, his Wife, both in f. c. Their 
 children, Ruth, Bethia, Edward, and Elizabeth, all baptized in this 
 church. 
 
 JONAS CLARK,* and Elizabeth, his wife, both in f. c. His children by 
 a former wife, Sarah and Jonas ; By Elizabeth, above named, Elizabeth, 
 Thomas, and Timothy, all five baptized in this Church ; Samuel, bap- 
 tized Novemb. 6, 1659 ; Abigail, baptized May 4, 1662 ; Mary Clark, 
 baptized March 12, '64-5. 
 
 JOHN COOPER (Son of Lydia, now wife of Deacon Stone above- 
 named), and Anna, His Wife, both in f. c. Their children now living 
 are, Anna (marryed to E. P. [Edmund Pinson] and deceased), Mary, 
 Samuel, John, Lydia (baptized Apr. 13, '63), Hannah (baptized De- 
 cemb. 29, 1667), all baptized in this Church ; Nathaniel, baptized May 
 8, 1659, deceased in Decemb. 1661. 
 
 THOMAS BE ALE, and Sarah, his Wife, both members in f. c. 
 
 WILLIAM MANNING, and Dorothy, his Wife, both members of this 
 Ch. in f. c. Their children, Hannah, Samuel, Sarah, John, and Mary, 
 all borne and baptized in this church. 
 
 JOHN FEZINGTON,f and Jane, his Wife, both in f. c. In his family 
 is Reuben Olbon, who, together with his sister Elizabeth, were bap- 
 tized in this church, being the children of our Sister Olbon (lately Cole), 
 now deceased. 
 
 ROBERT STEDMAN, and Anne, his Wife, both in f. c. Their child- 
 ren, John, Mary, and Thomas, all born and baptized in this Church. 
 Thomas, Dyed April 2, 1659. 
 
 ANDREW BELCHER, J and Elizabeth (daughter of Mr. Nicholas Dan- 
 forth). His Wife, both in f. c. Their children, Elizabeth, Jemimah 
 (rec. into f. c. March 5, 1665-6), Martha (f. c. May 19, 1666), An- 
 drew, and Anna ; all baptized in this Church, the Eldest being almost 
 fourteen yeares old, y e 2d 12, and y e 3d 10, &c, when baptized. 
 
 * Afterwards ruling elder of the church. He died in 1G99, aged 80. 
 t Now written Fessenden. 
 
 ♦ The grandfather of Governor Belcher. 
 
51 
 
 ANNE BRIDGE, the Wife of Matthew Bridge, Daughter also of Mr. 
 Nicholas Danforth (before named) is in f. c. with this Ch. Her child- 
 ren, John, Anne, Matthew, Samuel, and Thomas, all baptized in this 
 Church. Elizabeth, baptized Septemb. 18, 1659. 
 
 ELIZABETH GREEN, the wife of Bartholomew, deceased, is a mem- 
 ber in f. c. with this Ch. 
 
 JUSTICE BAINBRICK, the widow of Guy Bainbrick, deceased, is 
 memb. in f. c. 
 
 SAMUEL GREEN,* son of Elizabeth, before-named, is in f. c. So also 
 was Jane, his wife (daughter to y e foresaid Justice Bainbrick), now de- 
 ceased. Children borne to the said Samuel and Jane Green, Elizabeth, 
 Sarah, Samuel, Joseph, Lydia (deceased Sept. 24, 1665), and Deborah; 
 all borne and baptized in this Ch. Jonah Green, the son of Samuel 
 and Sarah, baptized Januar. 31, 1663; Lydia, baptized Nov. 12, '65 ; 
 Bartholomew, baptized Nov. 3, 67. 
 
 NATHANIEL GREEN, and Phebe Green (children of the forenamed 
 Bartholomew and Elizabeth), are also in f. c. 
 
 SARAH LONGHORN, y wife of Thomas Longhorne, and daughter of 
 Elizabeth Green, aforesaid, is member in f. c. Her children, Sarah, 
 Elizabeth, and Mary, all baptized ; Samuel, baptized Decemb. 9, '60 ; 
 Mercy, baptized May 11, 1662; Patience Longhorne, baptized April 
 3d, 1664. 
 
 THOMAS FOXE, and Ellin, his Wife, both in f. c. His son, Jabez 
 Foxe, baptized at Concord, but in minority when his father joyned here. 
 Her children by a fformer Husband (viz. Persevill Green, deceased, 
 sometimes a Brother of this Church) are, John Green, now in f. c. 
 with this ch., to be mentioned afterward; Elizabeth Green (now 
 Hall) , joyned in f. c. with y e Church of Christ, at Concord. Both in 
 their Infancy baptized here. 
 
 RICHARD ROBINS, and Rebecca, his wife, both memb. in f. c, 
 formerly dismissed to us from the Church at Charlestown. Their chil- 
 dren, John, Samuel, Nathaniel, and Rebecca, all baptized here save 
 the eldest, who was baptized' at Charlestowne, and yet under fourteen 
 years of age at His Parents joyning with us. 
 
 FRANCIS MOORE, the Elder, and Elizabeth, his wife, both in f. c. So 
 was also Katharine, his former wife, now deceased. His children, 
 ffrancis, who, together with Alby, his wife, is also in f. c. ; Samuel, 
 who is now in Barbadoes, and was about nine years old w n his father 
 
 * The veteran conductor of the Cambridge printing-press, — the first in 
 New England, — which he carried on successfully for half a century. Many 
 of his descendants, of the same calling as well as name, have ably sustained 
 the reputation of their ancestor. His second wife was a daughter of Elder 
 Clark. 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 joyned here, baptized in England ; Anne Moore, now Kiddar, who is in 
 i". c. ; John (the Sonne of ffrancis and Katharine), baptized in this 
 Church ; Elizabeth, now wife of ffrancis, aforesaid, hath three children, 
 but they were all above the age of fourteen years (the youngest, viz. 
 Rebecca, being above fifteen) at the Time of her joyning with this 
 Church, which was in y e l' 4 month of y e year 1657. 
 
 NICOLAS WYTH, and Rebeccah, his Wife, both members in f. c. 
 Their children, Mary, Nicolas, Martha, John, and William, all bap- 
 tized in this Church. The said Nicolas had also by a former wife a 
 daughter, baptized in England, named Sarah Wyth, now ffisk, dwell- 
 ing in Watertovvne, who was about thirteen years of Age when her 
 fTather joyned to this Church. The said Rebeccah, now wife of Nicolas 
 Wyth, had also by Her former Husband, Thomas Andrewes, three 
 children, viz., Thomas, Daniel, and Rebeccah Andrewes, all three bap- 
 tized also in this Church. 
 
 GILBERT CRACKBONE,* memb. in f. c, and Elizabeth, His Wife, 
 joyned May 22, 1659. His Son, Benjamin, was about five or six years 
 old when His father joyned here. 
 
 WILLIAM HEILY, and Grace, his Wife, both members of this Ch. in 
 f. c. His children, Hannah (admitted into f. c. March 27, '63 ; Dis- 
 missed to Salisbury, June 24, 1667), Elizabeth, Sarah, and William, 
 Borne at Roxbury and baptized there, whiles He stood member of the 
 Church of Lin, from whence He was dismissed to us. Also Grace (the 
 daughter of William and Grace) borne and baptized in this Church ; 
 Nathaniel, baptized ffeb. 6, 1658 ; Martha, baptized Septemb. 9, 1660 ; 
 Samuel Heily, Son of William and Phoebe (formerly Green), baptized 
 Septemb. 21, 1662 ; Paul Heily, Baptized April 3d, 1664 ; Mary Heily, 
 baptized Octob. 29, 1665. 
 
 GEORGE WILLOWES, and Jane, his wife, both in f. c. His Children, 
 Thomas and Stephen, borne and baptized in this Church ; Also, 
 
 JOHN PALFREY, son of Jane aforenamed, admitted into f. c. with us 
 Decemb. 10,1658; His child, Rebekah, baptized Septemb. 17, 1665; 
 John, baptized April 14, 1667, deceased ; Elizabeth Palfrey, baptized 
 May 24, 1668.. 
 
 GOLDIN MOORE, and Joane, his Wife, both in f. c. Their children, 
 Hannah (received into f. c. May 18, 1666), Lydia, and Ruth, all borne 
 and baptized in this Church. Also the said Joane had by Her former 
 Husband, John Champny, three children, viz. Mary Champny, now 
 Richardson, living at Wooburn ; Sarah; John, deceased fieb. 20, 1664 ; 
 all three baptized in this Ch. 
 WILLIAM BULLARD, and Mary, his Wife, both in f. c. Her Daugh- 
 
 * He was admitted freeman in December, 1636, and was of course one of 
 the early members of the church ; as was Thomas Beale, admitted at the same 
 time. 
 
59 
 
 ter, Hannah Grisold (whose father, ffrancis Grisold, was also member 
 with us), borne and baptised in this Ch. 
 
 THOMAS SWETMAN, and Isabell, his Wife, both in f. c. Their child- 
 ren, Elizabeth (received into f. c. May 18, '66), Rebecca, Mehitabell, 
 Sarah, and Ruhamah, all baptized in this Church ; Samuel, baptized 
 May 22, 1659 ; Bethiah, baptized July 7, 1661 ; Hepziba Swetman, 
 baptized June 24, 1666. 
 
 PHILIP COOK, and Mary (the daughter of Barnabas Lampson, de- 
 ceased), His Wife, both in f. c. Their children, Mary, Samuel, Han- 
 nah, and Sarah, borne and baptized in this Church ; Philip, baptized 
 May 5, 1661 ; John, baptized August 30, 1663 ; Barnabas Cook, bap- 
 tized June 4, '65. 
 
 JOHN TAYLOR, and Katharine, his Wife, both memb. in f. c. Their 
 son, Josep Taylor, borne and baptized in this Church. 
 
 JOHN GIBSON, and Rebecca, his Wife, both memb. in f. c. Their 
 children, Rebeccah, now joyned in f.c . with the church at Watertowne ; 
 Mary, Martha, John, and Samuel, baptized in this Church. 
 
 DAVID FISKE, and Seaborne, his present Wife, both members of this 
 Ch. in f. c. His children, by Lydia, deceased, Lydia and David ; the 
 children of the foresaid David and Seaborne, Elizabeth and Sarah ; all 
 four baptized in this Church ; Hannah, baptized Novemb. 27, '59. 
 
 WILLIAM PATTEN, and Mary, his Wife, both in f. c. Their child- 
 ren, Mary, Thomas, and Nathaniel, the eldest being about four or five 
 yeares old when Her parents joyned ; baptized in England. 
 
 ROBERT PARKER, and His Wife, both in f. c, having been dismissed 
 Hither (together with their children) from the Churches of Boston and 
 Roxbury. Their children, Benjamin, John, Sarah, and Rachell. 
 
 WILLIAM TOWNE, and Martha, his Wife, both memb. in f. c. Their 
 children, Peter, baptized in England, and about three years old at his 
 parents joyning here ; Mary, baptized here, admitted into f. c. No- 
 vemb. 4, 1659. 
 
 WILLIAM DICKSON, and Jean, his Wife, both in f. c. Their children, 
 Lydia, Abigail, Mary, Hannah, and John, all baptized in this church. 
 
 ANDREW STEVENSON, and Jane, his Wife, both memb. in f. c. 
 Their children, Deborah (now the wife of Robert Wilson, of Sudbury), 
 baptized in England, and about six years old when her father joyned 
 here. Sarah, Rebeccah (dismissed to Billerica, Aug. 13, '67), John, 
 Mary, Lydia, Andrew, and Hannah Stevenson ; all these baptized in 
 this Church. 
 
 JOHN SHEPARD (Son of Edward Shepard before named), and his 
 wife, both in f. c. Their children, Rebecca, John, Sarah, and Violet, 
 all borne and baptized in this Church ; Elizabeth, baptized July 29, 1660 ; 
 Edward, baptized August 3, 1662 ; Samuel Shepard, baptized July 3d, 
 1664 ; Thomas, baptized Nov. 18, '66. 
 
60 
 
 RICHARD ECKLES, and Mary, his wife, both in f. c. Their children, 
 Mary, Hannah, and Martha, all borne and baptized in this Church. 
 
 JAMES KIDDAR, and Anne, his Wife, both in f. c. Their children, 
 Hannah, Dorothy, James, John, and Thomas, all baptized in this 
 Church; Nathaniel, baptized ffeb. 27, 165[9?] ; Ephraim, baptized 
 May 26, 1661. Dismissed to y e Church at Billerica. 
 
 FRANCIS WHITMORE, and Isabell, His Wife, both in f. c. Their 
 children, Elizabeth, ffrancis, John, and Samuel, all baptized in this 
 Church ; Abigail, baptized July 3d, 1659 ; Sarah, baptized March 30, 
 1662 ; Margery, baptized March 27, 1664 ; Hannah Whitmore (by a 
 2d wife), baptized ffeb. 15, 1667. 
 
 WALTER HASTING* (son of John Hasting deceased), and Sarah, his 
 wife, both in f. c. Their Daughter, Sarah, baptized in this church, 
 deceased ; John, Baptized Decemb. 9, 1660 ; Walter, baptized No- 
 vemb. 30, 1662 ; Sarah Hasting, baptized Decemb. the 18, 1664, 
 deceased Jan. 26, 1664 ; Hannah, baptized Jan. 14, 1665; Elizabeth 
 Hasting, baptized febr. 23, '67. 
 
 JOHN GREEN (Son of Persevill and Ellin Green before-named) and 
 Ruth (daughter of Edward and Ruth Mitchenson), His Wife, both in 
 f. c. Their children, John and Nathaniel, both borne and baptized in 
 this Ch. ; Persevill, borne March 29, baptized Apr. 1, 1660 ; Ruth, 
 baptized Novemb. 24, '61 ; Samuel, borne May 4, baptized May 10, 
 '63 ; Elizabeth, born April 22, baptized April 23, '65 ; Edward, bap- 
 tized Apr. 21, '67. 
 
 WILLIAM HAMLET, and Sarah, his wife, both memb. in f. c. Their 
 children, Jacob and Rebeccah, both borne and baptized in this church. 
 Also the said Sarah had by a former Husband, Hubbard, child- 
 ren, viz. James Hubbard, Sarah Hubbard, now Champny, admitted 
 into f. c, Thomas Hubbard, now joyned to y e Church of Wethersfi . . . 
 
 JOHN WATSON, and Rebecca (daughter of Anne Errington, deceased, 
 sometimes a sist. of this Ch.), His Wife, both in f. c. Their children, 
 Rebeccah and John, both borne and baptized in this Church ; Abraham, 
 baptized July 28, 1661 ; Anne, baptized Sept. 16, 1666. 
 
 RICHARD FRANCES, and Alse, His wife, both members in f. c. 
 Their Children, Steven, John, and Sarah, all borne and baptized in this 
 Church. 
 
 RICHARD DANIE,f and Anne, his Wife, both of them in f. c. Their 
 Children, Anne, Jacob, Joseph, and Abiah, all baptized in this Church ; 
 
 * Afterwards deacon of the church. His father does not appear to have 
 held this office here, as is erroneously stated by Farmer. 
 
 t Dana, as it is now written. He is the great ancestor of the many fami- 
 lies and distinguished men of this name in our country. 
 
61 
 
 Benjamin, baptized April 8, 1660 ; Elizabeth, baptized April 27, 1662 ; 
 Daniel, baptized April 3, 1664. 
 
 WILLIAM BORDMAN, and ffrances, his Wife, both members in f. c. 
 with us. Their Children, Moses, deceased March 17, 1661-2; Re- 
 beccah, Andrew, Aaron, ffrances, Martha, Mary, and William, all bap- 
 tized in this Church ; Elizabeth, baptized August 26, 1660. 
 
 ANNE HASTING (formerly Mean), the widow of John Hasting, de- 
 ceased, is a member in f. c. with this Ch. Her Children, Sarah, the 
 wife of Walter Hasting, before-named, who is in f. c. ; Mary Mean, 
 who was borne and baptized in this Church. The foresaid John Has- 
 ting tvas dismissed hither from the Church of Braintree, and joyned 
 here in ffebruar., 1656. His children are, Walter, beforenamed, Sam- 
 uel, who was baptized in England, and about — years of age when His 
 ffather joyned to y e ch. of Braintree ; John Seaborne and Elizabeth, 
 both baptized at Braintree. 
 
 HANNAH THATCHER (the Wife of Samuel Thatcher), living 
 in Watertowne, is a member in f. c. with this Ch. 
 
 ELIZABETH OAKES, dismissed to Maldon, Decemb. 2, 1667, the 
 widow of Thomas Oakes, is memb. in f. c, as was also Her Husband, 
 Thomas Oakes, lately deceased. Their Children yet living, Elizabeth 
 and Hannah, both borne and baptized in this Ch. ; Thomas Oakes, 
 borne after his ffather's decease, and baptized March 20, 1658-9; 
 Abigail Howard, y e child. of Elizabeth (formerly Oakes, now) How- 
 ard, baptized here Septemb. 23, 1666. 
 
 MARTHA RUSSELL (the Wife of William Russell) is a memb. in 
 f. c. Her Children, Joseph, baptized in England, and about ten years 
 of age when His mother joyned here ; Benjamin, John, Martha, Philip, 
 William, and Jason, baptized in this Church ; Joice, baptized May 13, 
 1660. 
 
 JOHANNA SILL, a memb. in f. c, as was also her Husband. Their 
 Children, Joseph Sill,* but three years old at his mother's joyning with 
 this Church ; Elizabeth Sill, now Hicks, not two years old at y e same 
 Time ; both of them baptized in England. 
 
 MARTHA OLDAM (now Browne), is a member in f. c. ; so was also 
 Her Husband, Richard Oldam, deceased. Their Children, Samuel 
 and John Oldam, both baptized in this Church. Her second Husband, 
 Thomas Brown, admitted May 18, 1666. Her child, Mehitabell 
 Browne, baptized June 2d, 1661 ; Mary, baptized Nov. 8, '63 ; Eben- 
 ezer, July 23, '65 ; Ichabod Brown, baptized Septemb. 9, 1666. 
 
 ESTHER CHEAVERS, the wife of Daniel Cheavers, is a member in 
 
 * There was a Captain Joseph Sill who distinguished himself in Philip's 
 War, who may have been the person here named. 
 
62 
 
 f. c. Her children, Lydia, James, Daniel, and Mary Cheavers, all 
 baptized in this Church; Israel Cheever, baptized Januar. 26, 1661 ; 
 John, baptized July 31, 1659 ; Esther, baptized Januar. 27, 1660, de- 
 ceased ffeb., '60; Hannah and Elizabeth Cheavers {gemellaz; baptized 
 May 29, 64; both deceased, June 14 and June 16, 1664) ; Elizabeth, 
 baptized Aug. 6, '65. 
 
 MARGERY CANE, the widow of Christopher Cane, deceased, ismemb. 
 in f. c, as was also Christopher, her Husband. Their Children, Jona- 
 than, Nathaniel, Deborah, Ruth, and Esther, all baptized here. 
 
 JOANE PRENTICE, Widow of Henry Prentice, deceased, is member 
 in f. c.,as was Her said Husband ; also their Children, Mary, Solomon, 
 Abiah, Samuel. Sarah, and Henry, all borne and baptized in this 
 Church. 
 
 DEBORAH WILSON (y e wife of Robert Wilson, daughter of Andrew 
 Stevenson, abovenamed) admitted into f. c. March 5, 1665-6. Her 
 child, Deborah, baptized Sept. 30, 1666. 
 
 RICHARD HASSELL, and Joane, his Wife, both in f. c. Their 
 Children, Elizabeth, Joseph, and Esther, all baptized in this Church. 
 
 THOMAS PRENTICE, and Grace, his Wife, both in f. c. Their 
 Children, Grace, baptized in England, and about four years old at Her 
 parents joyning ; Thomas, Elizabeth, Mary, and John, all baptized in 
 this Church. 
 
 EDWARD HALL, and Margaret, his wife, both members in f. c. 
 
 MARY HALL, Widow, is member in f. c. with us. Her children were 
 all Adult at y e Time of her joyning. But two of them are since 
 joyned to y e Church of Concord ; viz. John and Susanna. 
 
 ABRAHAM ERRINGTON, admitted into f. c. March 27, 1663. 
 
 REBECKAH ERRINGTON (the Wife of Abraham Errington), daugh- 
 ter to Robert Cutler, of Charlestown, is member in f. c. with us. Her 
 Children, Rebecca, Hannah, and Sarah Errington, all baptized in this 
 Church ; Mary, baptized Januar. 13, 1660 ; Abraham, baptized No- 
 vemb. 8, 1663. 
 
 ANNE ADAMS (the Wife of John Adams), is member in f. c. John 
 Adams Hims. admitted May 18, 1666. Her Children, Rebecca Ad- 
 ams, borne and baptized in England ; Mary, John, and Joseph Adams, 
 baptized in this Church; Hannah, baptized June 17, 1660, deceased 
 Januar. 25, 1660; Daniel, baptized Septemb. 14, 1662. 
 
 ELIZABETH HALL (the Wife of Thomas Hall), is memb. in f. c. 
 Her Children, Mary, Hannah, and Lydia Hall, all baptized in this 
 Church. 
 
 EDWARD WINDSHIP, and Elizabeth, his Wife, both members in f. c. 
 His Children by His former Wife, Jane, deceased, who was also in f. c. 
 with this Church, Sarah, Mary, Ephraim, and Johannah Windship. 
 The children of Edward and Elizabeth, above-named, Elizabeth, Ed- 
 
63 
 
 ward, Abigail, and Samuel Windship, all eight borne and baptized in 
 this Church; Joseph, baptized August 25, '61; Margery, baptized 
 ffebr. 5, 1664 ; Mehitabel, baptized Nov. 17, 1667. 
 
 SARAH CHAMPNY (the Wife of Samuel Champny abovenamed), is 
 member in f. c. Their Children, Samuel, baptized ffebr. 13, 1658, de- 
 ceased ; Sarah, baptized May 13, 1660 ; Mary, baptized August 17, 1662. 
 
 ROBERT BROWNE, member of this Church in f. c. 
 
 RICHARD CUTTER, readmitted ; Elizabeth Cutter (the wife of Rich- 
 ard Cutter) is member with us in f. c. Their children, Elizabeth, 
 Samuel, William, Ephraim, Gershom, and Marah, all borne and bap- 
 tized in this Church. — Nathaniel Cutter (the son of Richard and [Fran- 
 ces] formerly Embsden), baptized Januar. 24, '63, deceased ; Rebekah, 
 baptized Octob. 8, 1665 ; Hephzibah, Baptized Decemb. 1, 1667. 
 
 JOHN FRENCH, and Sarah, his Wife, both now deceased, were some- 
 times members of this Church, in f. c. Their children, John, Sarah 
 (dismissed unto the Church at Billerica, May 16, 1664), Joseph, and 
 Nathaniel, all baptized in this Church. 
 
 HANNAH HOLMES (formerly Thatcher), y e wife of John Holmes, 
 admitted into f. c. May 31, 1667. Their child, John, Baptized June 9, 
 1667 ; Hannah, baptized June 30, 1667. 
 
 DAVID STONE (the sonne of Gregory Stone, above-mentioned), and 
 Dorcas, his Wife, both in f. c. Their children, David, Daniel, Dorcas, 
 John, Samuel, and Nathaniel, all borne and baptized in this Church. 
 
 SAMUEL STONE (the sonne also of Gregory before-named) is in f. c. 
 His wife, [Sarah] Stone, admitted into f. c. Oct. 18, 1661. His child- 
 ren, Samuel and Isaack, Both baptized in this Church ; Sarah, baptized 
 March 10, 1660-1; John, Baptized June 7, 1663; Lydia, baptized 
 Decemb. 31, 1665 ; Mary, baptized March 22, 1667-8. 
 
 MARY PADDLEFOOT (the Wife of Jonathan Paddlefoot), admitted 
 into fellowship and f. c. Nov. 4, '59. Her children, Mary, Jonathan, 
 and Zachariah, baptized Novemb. 6, 59; Edward, baptized July 8, 
 1660 ; Thomas Ernes, the son of Thomas and Mary (formerly Paddle- 
 foot, now) Ernes, baptized July 12, 1663. 
 
 SARAH BARRET (the Wife of William Barret) admitted into fellow- 
 ship and f. c. Nov. 4, '59, deceased. Her children, Lydia Barret, 
 baptized Novemb. 6, '59 ; John, baptized ffebr. 10, 1660. [Mary] Bar- 
 ret, 2d wife of William Barret, received into fellow, and f. c. May 
 18, '61. Her child, William, baptized May 20, 1661 ; Edward, bap- 
 tized Januar. 12. 
 
 STEPHEN DAY,* admitted into fellowship and f. c, ffebruar. 28, 
 1660-1. 
 
 * The unskilful London apprentice, who came over in 1638, and took 
 charge of the printing-press set up in Cambridge in 1639, the first in North 
 America. He was superseded in 1648 by Samuel Green. (See p. 57.) 
 
64 
 
 MARY GOAVE, the wife of John Goave, admitted into fellowship and 
 f. c, ffebruar. 28, 1660-1. Her children, Mary and John, baptized 
 March 3, 1660-1; Aspinwall, baptized Octob. 6, 1661, deceased 
 Octob. 14, 1661 ; Nathaniel, baptized Novemb. 16, 1662; James, bap- 
 tized Decemb. 13, 1663 ; 1 Goave, Baptized August 4, 1667. 
 
 ABRAHAM HOMAN, admitted into fellowship and f. c. Octob. 18, 1661. 
 His wife, admitted May 18, '66. 
 
 HANNAH GOFFE, y e Wife of Samuel Goffe, admitted into fellow- 
 ship and f. c. Octob. 18, 1661. Her children, Hannah, Edward, and 
 Deborah, baptized Octob. 20, 1661; Samuel, baptized ffebr. 8, 1662; 
 Lydia, baptized Januar. 15, 1664 ; John Goffe, baptized Decemb. 9, 
 1666. 
 
 [ABIGAIL] MARRIOT, the wife of John Marriot, admitted into fellow- 
 ship and f. c. Octob. 21, 1661; John Marriot, admitted into f. c. 
 Januar. 3, 1664. Her children, Thomas, Amos, and Susanna, baptized 
 Novemb. 3, '61 ; John, baptized ffebr. 9, 1661 ; John, baptized June 5, 
 
 1664 ; Abigail Marriot, baptized August 19, 1666. 
 
 WIDOW EMBSDEN,* admitted into fellowship and full communion 
 October 21, 1661. Her children, Isaac and Jacob Embsden, both bap- 
 tized Novemb. 3, 1661. 
 
 ZECHARIAH HICKS, admitted into fellowship and f. c. Januar. 8, 
 1661 ; Elizabeth, His wife, admit, into f. c. May 23, 1665. Their 
 children, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and Joseph, baptized Januar. 12, 1661; 
 Thomas, baptized July 3d, 1664 ; Hannah, baptized March 4, 1665-6. 
 
 JONATHAN HIDE, and Mary. His Wife, admitted into fellowship and 
 f. c. Januar. 8, 1661. Their children, Jonathan, baptized ffebr. 9, 
 1661 ; Samuel, John, and Elizabeth, baptized ffebr. 16, 1661 ; William, 
 baptized, [Novjemb. 16, 16 — ; Eleaza[r], baptized July 3d, 1664. 
 
 MARY MITCHENSON (the wife of William Mitchenson) admitted 
 into fellowship and f. c. March 27, 1663. Her children, Mary, Thomas, 
 Alse, baptized April 5, 1663 ; [Rjuth, baptized Octob. 4, 1663; Abi- 
 gail, baptized March 11, 1665-6. 
 
 JAMES HUBBARD, admitted into f. c. March 27, 1663. His child, 
 Sarah, baptized April 5, 16 — ; Marah (or Mary, borne Octob. 22, 
 
 1665 ; mother dying y' same day), baptized 1665. 
 
 DEBORAH MAROON (y e wife of John Makoon) admitted into fellow- 
 ship with us and baptized on July 19, 1663. Her children, Hannah 
 and Deborah, baptized July 19, : 63 ; Sarah, baptized Novemb. 8, 1663. 
 
 [BJETHIAH WELLS (formerly Mitchenson), the daughter of Edward 
 and Ruth Mitchenson, above-named, admitted into f. c. Januar. 1, 1664. 
 Mr. Wells, her Husband, admitted May 18, ! 66. Her child, Daniel 
 
 * Or Amsden, as now written. She afterwards married R. Cutter. See 
 p. 63. 
 
 
65 
 
 Wells, bap [Edward,] baptized June 10, 1666 ; [Bejthiah, 
 
 baptized Januar. 20, 1667. 
 
 MARY, the Wife of Joseph Russell, admitted into fellowship and f. c. 
 Jan. 3, 1664. Her child, Mary Russell, b[aptize]d Januar. 8, 1664 ; 
 Abigail, Baptized May 17, 1668. 
 
 JEMIMAH SILL, (formerly Belcher,] the wife of Joseph S[ill,] 
 
 mm Their two children, Joseph, baptized March 11, 
 
 1665-6; Jemimah, baptized March 31, 1667. 
 
 SETH ROSSE,* the wife of Thomas Rosse, (the daughter of Mr. 
 Homan), admitted May 2, and Baptized May 28, 1665; as also Her 
 child Marget, baptized May Thomas, baptized July 1, 1666. 
 
 NATHANIEL HANCOCK, admitted into fellowship May 31, '67, bap- 
 tized June 2d, '67, aged — . 
 
 MARY HANCOCK (formerly Prentice, y e daughter of Henry and 
 Joan Prentice, above-named), admitted into f. c. May 23, 1665. Her 
 
 child, Nathaniel, baptized May 28 deceased ; Mary, 
 
 baptized May 13, 1666 ; Sarah, baptized Sept. 15, 1667. 
 
 GORDON FILLEBROWNE, admitted into fellowship and f. c. May 18, 
 1666. His children, Thomas and Mary, baptized May 20 ; Hannah, 
 baptized Oct. 14, 1[666]. 
 
 * She afterwards removed to Billerica, where she was murdered by the 
 Indians, in 1695.