History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts - citizen hylbom blog

a hare's tail on the other. These were to keep
the people awake. If any woman went to sleep, the
constable touched her on the forehead witli tlie
hare's tail ; but if a small boy nodded, he was
rapped with the other end not quite so gently.'^
Tlie church at Weston, at a meeting held April 27,
1726, voted that " turning y* back towards y' min-
ister to gaze abroad, and laying down y* head
upon y® arms (in a sleepy posture) in y'^ time of
public worship (extraordinary cases excepted) are
postures, irreverent and indecent, and whicli ought
to be reformed, where any are faulty therein, and
carefully avoided."
In March, 1718, a motion was made in town-
meeting to build a new mei'tiug-liouse, but the
matter was deferred. October i'-i, 1721, a vote was
passed by the town to build a new meeting-house,
and to appropriate their proportion of the bills of
credit issued by the General Court to this object.
In the summer of the following year the new house
was raised. It stood a little to the rear of the
first one, and was more commodious, with square
pews and galleries, and seats on hinges, to which
the name "slam-seats" was sometimes given. This
house was repaired in 1800, a steeple and two
porches erected, and a bell procured. About
fifteen years later the pews were altered from tlie
square to the modern long form. It remained in
constant use until 1810, reaching the good old age
of one hundred and eigliteen years, and every pas-
tor of the society had ministered at its altar, " wlien
it was pulled down, and the present Unitarian house
erected still farther back and across the county
road, which intersects our common." It is said
tiiat when the din and clatter of the " slam-seats,"
at the " amen " of the devotional service, was loud
and universal, it was specially pleasing to tiie min-
isters of those days, as indicating a full and earnest
congregation.
The Rev. Samuel Woodward succeeded Mr.
Williams as pastor of the churcii. He was ordained
September 25, 1751, and held the position until
his death, October 5, 1782. Allowing eleven days
for the change from Old Style to New Style be-
tween his ordination and death, his pastorate continued
thirty-one years less one day. Dr. Samuel
Kendal, his successor and son-in-law, says of him,
" He died greatly beloved and lamented by the
people of his charge, by his brethren in office, and
by an extensive circle of acquaintance. He was a
serious, sensible, practical preacher; cheerful and
facetious witliout lessening his dignity as a minis-
WESTON. 493
ter, or Christian. Xo man could more happily
blend the cheerful with the grave in conversation,
and yet preserve their exact bounds Few
men seem to have inspired a profounder respect or
a warmer love." He was born February 1, 1727,
and graduated at Harvard College in 1748. He
was the son of Deacon Ebenezer Woodward, of
Newton, who occupied the original homestead near
the Upper Falls, grandson of John Woodward, an
early settler of that town, and great-great-grandson
of Richard Woodward, a freeman, and one of the
earliest proprietors of Watertown and a grantee of
one hundred and twenty-five acres in the distribu-
tion of the " Farme Lands."
Rev. Samuel Kendal, D. D., was ordained suc-
cessor to Mr. Woodward, November 5, 1783, just
thirteen montlis after the death of his predecessor.
In his century sermon, delivered at Weston, Janu-
ary 12, 1813 (to which the writer of this sketch is
greatly indebted for important material), he says
of himself that he had " not been kept from the
house of worship but one Sabbatli, either by sick-
ness or inclemency of weather, for thirty years ;
nor had he left the pulpit without a supply, on his
own private business, but two Sabbaths within the
term."
Dr. Kendal was greatly respected and loved, not
only in his own parish, but in all the neighboring
churches. "He was," says Rev. Edmund H. Sears,
"the friend and associate of the elder Ware, at
a time of unparalleled religious activity in Mas-
saclmsetts, and when the spirit of sect was begin-
ning to divide the churches asunder. Dr. Kendal
preached the great truths of Ciirist, free of scholas-
tic dogmas and the spirit of sect and party, and he
enforced them with a power and fervency whicli
met the deeper wants of the spiritual nature. No
schism took place. The pews were filled full, both
on the floors and in the galleries, and persons still
living speak of the stillness that pervaded them
under the fervent appeals of the pulpit. His style
of composition was easy and flowing, his person
large and manly and expressive of the vigor of
his mind, and his voice, of unusual compass and
power, searched every corner of the house and commanded
audience. He lived through times of the
hottest political strife, had very decided opinions
on questions which agitated the country, and
preached them without reserve. His influence ex-
tended much beyond his parish. His century sermon,
preached near the close of his life, re-echoes
and prolongs the strain of Pliillips at Watertown,