History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

1747 and 1748, without receiving an invitation to
settle. April 11, 1748, it was " Voted, That Mr.
William Lawrence is the man desired to preach
four Sabbaths and the Fast, on probation for settlement
in the ministry." On the 18th of May
following the church united \vith the prechict in
extending a call to Mr. Lawrence. The call was
accompanied by an offer of £800, and an annual
salary of £400, according to the Old Tenor bills.
Subsequently a committee was appointed to treat
with Mr. Lawrence in reference to his settle-
ment, and it was agreed that his salary should be
regulated upon these prices of the following arti-
cles ^ : Indian corn, lo-s. per bushel. Old Tenor;
Rye, 20 «. per bushel; pork. Is. 8^/. and beef 1«.
per pound, to be stated in the months of Novem-
ber and December. It was also agreed to give ten
cords of wood annually, in addition to £400.
The ordination of Mr. Lawrence took place
December 7, 1748, the ordaining council being
composed of the elders and messengers of the
churches in Lexington, Weston, two churches
in Cambridge, First Church in Groton, and tlie
churches in Waltham and Littleton. Rev. Mr.
Hancock was moderator, who also prayed and gave
the charge. Rev. Caleb Trowbridge preached the
sermon, and Rev. Warham Williams gave the
right hand of fellowship. Rev. Nathaniel Apple-
ton and Rev. Daniel Rogers offered prayers.
Rev. William Lawrence, son of Colonel William
and Susanna (Prescott) Lawrence was born in
Groton, May 7, 1723, and graduated at Harvard
College in 1743. He married February 1, 1750 -
51, Love, daughter of John and Love (Minott)
Adams. Mr. Lawrence had a family of three sons
and six daughters who survived him. Little is
known respecting his character, peculiarities, and
beliefs. By the inscription on his monument we
are told that " he was a gentleman of good abili-
ties and a firm supporter of the order of the
churches," and one of his successors writes of him,
" had we no other sources of judgment than the
records of his church and the character of the
men raised up under his ministry, we should be
justified in believing that he was an able, judicious,
1 The practice of " stating a salary " was common in New Eng-
land towns, and arose from the depreciation of paper currency
issued by the colonial legislatures, and by the Continental Con-
gress. The relative value of the paper currency to silver in
1748 was about £6 paper currency to £ 1 silver, and in 1781
£75 paper to £ 1 silver. In 1791 the town sold the old paper
currency in the treasury, amounting to £ i37-|. 17 i. 4 d., for
£15 16 J. & d. "being the whole value thereof"
LINCOLN. 37
and devoted minister of the gospel." The only
stigma that attaches to his memory is a suspicion
of toryism. His people assembled at the meeting-
house one Sabbath morning in the fall of 1774,
and would not permit him to enter the pulpit. His
eldest daughter. Love, was married about that time
to Dr. Joseph Adams of Townsend, an uncompro-
mising loyalist, and probably some scandal con-
nected with the marriage was the cause of this
ebullition of popular feeling; but whatever the
trouble was, it vanished during the week and left no
explanation to posterity. Mr. Lawrence died April
11, 1780. Mrs. Lawrence died January 3, 1820,
having survived her husband nearly forty years.
After the death of Mr. Lawrence, Messrs. Ebene-
zer Hubbard, Jr., William Bentley, and Asa Piper
were employed to preach, but it does not appear
that any of them made a favorable impression on
their hearers. Mr. Charles Stearns was first em-
ployed to preach in October, 1780, and on the
15th of January following the church voted unanimously
to invite him to be their pastor. In tltis
vote the town, on the 5th of February, concurred
and voted to give him £220 "hard money, or its
equivalent," (to which £70 was subsequently
added) as a settlement, and £80 and fifteen cords
of wood as an annual salary. His ordination took
place November 7, 1781, the churclies in Waltham,
Weston, Lexington, Concord, Reading, Lunenburg,
Leominster, Sudbury, East Sudbury, and Stow
being represented in the ordaining council. Rev.
Mr. Adams of Lunenburg preached the sermon,
which was printed.
Dr. Stearns' ministry, like that of his prede-
cessor, was remarkably free from distracting influ-
ences ; their united ministries extended over a
period of more than seventy-five years, and no eccle-
siastical council was called to settle controversies
or harmonize differences. No root of bitterness
ever sprang up between minister and people, and
no trace of any serious disagreement can be found
on church or town records. The secret of the uniform
peace and prosperity of the church is doubt-
less to be found in the fact that the ministers were
willing to do the work of the Master, and let
sectarian strife alone. During the latter part of
Dr. Stearns' ministry, the Congregational churches
of New England were disturbed and divided upon
the subject of exchanges between ministers hold-
ing different views upon matters of faith alone,
but Dr. Stearns steadily refused to take any part
in the controversy.