lbeo%ta| ^ t\xt ^g^. ;v\>t»^^ % PRINCETON, N. J. Division Q A (^ X^ vlj C/ Sectioti • J_)s7(0 Shelf Number A HISTORY OF THE BAPTISTS IN NEW ENGLAND HENRY S. "bURRAGE, D. D. Author of "A History of the Anabaptists of SwitzerlandP "Baptist Hymn Writers and their Hymns" etc. " Different statements of truth, different forms of worship, an altered outward life there may be ; but the spiritual affections, the sense of duty, the charity, the penitent trust, the divine desire, the hatred of wrong, the faith in the unseen, which constitute true religion, belong to all generations." S. L. Caldwell, D. D. PHILADELPHIA AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 1420 Chestnut Street 1894 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1894, by the AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, In the OiBce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. TO E. M. B., WHOSE ASSISTANCE IN MANY WAYS I GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE. CONTENTS. I. KoGER Williams and the Early Baptists of Khode Island, 9 II. The Early Baptists of Massachusetts, , 31 III. Baptists of Other New England States, 51 IV. Brown University—Educational Work, 69 V. Associational Kelations, 80 VI. The Contest for Eeligious Liberty, . 104 VII. Organized Missionary Operations, . 134 VIII. New England Baptists and Foreign Missions, 150 IX. The Development of Educational Work, . 170 X. Progress of the Denomination in New Eng- land Since 1800. (Maine, New Hampshire, AND Vermont), 196 XL Progress of the Denomination in New Eng- land Since 1800. (Massachusetts, Khodb Island, and Connecticut), 216 XII. The Sunday-school Movement, 241 XIII. The Baptist Women of New England and Christian Missions, 265 XIV. Some Waymarks in New England Baptist History, 281 XV. The Present Condition and Outlook, ... 297 PREFACE. The plan of this history was adopted in order that I might meet the requirements of the task assigned me. Regretfully I have been compelled, for lack of space, to omit much that ought to find a place in a history of the Baptists of New Eng- land. Yet I trust it will be found that, even in this brief review of a long and eventful period, the prominent facts have been clearly and faithfully presented. Concerning the earlier history of the Baptists of New Eng- land, Rev. Isaac Backus' "History of New England with Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists," published a hundred years ago, has been to me, as to others, a treasure house of interesting and trust- worthy facts. For his painstaking investigations, as well as for his personal worth and services, Mr. Backus should for- ever be held in honor by the Baptists of New England. Dr. David Benedict, in his "General History of the Baptist Denomination in America," published in 1813, devoted attention to a wider field than the Middleboro pastor, and so far as New England is concerned added little to what Mr. Backus had already done. Valuable material for the earlier period 1 have also derived from Dr. R. A. Guild's " Chaplain Smith and the Bapti.sts," with its numerous extracts from the diary of Rev. Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill, Mass. , published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1885 ; also from the "Diary of John Comer," published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1893. The Minutes of the 6 PREFACE. 7 Warren Association I have carefully examined ; also such of the Minutes of the other earlier Associations as are now accessi- ble, together with the Minutes of the various State Conven- tions, in which so much of the history of the Baptists of New England since 1825 has been recorded. Nor have I over- looked the "Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine," 1803-1817, and the "Maine Baptist Missionary Register," 1806-1808. These beginnings of our missionary literature are a repository of facts concerning New England Baptist churches in the early part of the century, and especially concerning their missionary activity. Centennial and semi- centennial discourses, histories of churches, biographical sketches, etc., etc., have also furnished me with valuable material. With reference to the contest for religious liberty, I am indebted to Buck's "Ecclesiastical Law," the Proceed- ings of the Massachusetts Constitutional Conventions of 1779 and 1820, and especially to Dr. Alvah Hovey's "Life and Times of Isaac Backus," one of Dr. Hovey's many valuable services to the Baptists of New England during his long connection with the Newton Theological Institution. Concerning Brown University I have found helpful Dr. R. A. Guild's " Manning and Brown University," also President Barnas Sears' "Centennial Discourse at the Centennial of Brown University, September 6, 1864." For a sketch of Colby University I am indebted to President Champliii's Semi-Centennial Discourse. With reference to Newton Theo- logical Institution, I have examined the historical materials published from time to time by the institution, and especially have I been aided by a recent paper concerning the institu- tion contributed by President Hovey to the "History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts." For facts concerning the relation of the New England Baptist churches to foreign and home missions, I have received help from the Jubilee volumes of the American Baptist Missionary Union and the American Baptist Home 8 PREFACE. Mission Society. I have also found helpful, "Baptists and the National Centenary," published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1876. For an admirable statement of the facts concerning the work of the Baptist women of New England in foreign missions, I am greatly indebted to a "Historical Sketch of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society" by Frances Stoughton Bailey, .published by the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society in 1891. A like valuable service concerning the work of New England Baptist women in home missions was rendered for me by Mrs. James McWhinnie, of the Woman's Baptist Home Mission Society. I desire also to acknowledge my indebtedness to Rev. William Hurlin of Antrim, N. H. ; Rev. C. H. Spalding of Boston, JMass. ; Rev. Henry Crocker of Fairfax, Vt. ; Rev. A. McGeorge of Brattleboro, Vt. ; Rev. R. C. Mills, D. D. , of Newton Centre, Mass. ; Rev. P. S. Evans of New Haven, Conn. ; Rev. Henry M. King, D. D., of Providence, R. I. ; R. A. Guild, LL. D., of Providence, R. I.; Dr. George B. Peck of Providence, R. I. ; Rev. T. J. Morgan, D. D., of New York ; Rev. E. F. Merriam of Boston, Mass. ; and Dea. W. H. Roundy of Boston, Mass. My acknowledgments also are due to the library of Colby University, the General Theological Library, Boston, the library of the Maine Historical Society, Portland, and espe- cially to the library of the Backus Historical Society, Newton Theological Institution, for the use of its valuable collection of Minutes. Henry S. Burrage. PoRTLAKD, Me., June, 1894. HISTORY OF BAPTISTS IN NEW ENGLAND. CHAPTER I. ROGER WILLIAMS AND THE EARLY BAPTISTS OF RHODE ISLAND. THE Pophara colonists established themselves at the mouth of the Kennebec River, in what is now the State of Maine, in August, 1607. Sir John Pop- hara, from whom the colony received its name, was chief justice of England. With him were associated Sir John Gilbert and Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Doubtless they sought to enlarge their own fortunes by this colonial enterprise ; but they were loyal to the interests of the crown, and saw in the anticipated success of the colony the greater glory of England by the consequent increase of her dominion and her commerce. Unfortunately, the colonists were not of the best. They had not the strength of character that belongs to the founders of States. They were here simply because they were sent. Furthermore, Sir John Popham died June 10, 1607, shortly after the colonists sailed. The president of the colony, George Popham, a nephew of the chief justice, died 9 ; 10 HISTORY OF BAPTISTS IN NEW ENGLAND. in the winter following the landing. Also, dur- ing the following summer, Sir John Gilbert died, and on receiving this intelligence, Raleigh Gilbert, who on the death of George Popham became president of the colony, found it necessary to re- turn to England as the heir to his brother's inheri- tnnce. A part of the colonists had returned to Eng- land in the preceding December, and as there was now no one capable of taking charge of the interests of the colony, Fort St. George, which they had erected, was dismantled, and the remnant returned to England with Gilbert in the autumn of 1608. The utter abandonment of an enterprise at one period so full of promise, was a severe blow to Gorges and other patrons of colonization in New England and no further attempt by Englishmen was made to secure a foothold in the new world until the Pilgrims, better men with better hopes, settled at Plymouth, in 1620. The Pilgrims were Separatists, and are to be sharply distinguished from the Puritans, who after- ward establislied the settlements of Massachusetts Bay. Coming from Holland, whither they had fled on account of persecution, the Pilgrims brought with them to our shores " hearts full of charity, kindliness, and toleration ; their minds broadened by experience in a land where religion was free to all men." They did not remain in Holland, because they were not at home there. They desired for themselves and for their children entirely different surroundings ; and so ! THE EARLY BAPTISTS OP RHODE ISLAND. 11 they left Leyden, where for some time they had lived in exile, crossed a stormy sea, and established them- selves at Plymouth, " the forerunners of an innumer- able host.'' The Puritans, on the other hand, were not separatists from the Church of England. They were not in harmony with it, however ; and with the purpose to secure ecclesiastical changes which they could not obtain in England, they too turned toward the new world.