The history of Lynn - Lynn Massachusetts Genealogy Project

1678.] HISTORY OF LYNN. 123167S.One of the first inhabitants of Nahant was James Mills. Hisoccupation was that of a shepherd, and he lived on the spotwhere Rice's tavern stands, which has been, for many years,ill possession of the family of Breed. His children were Sarah,James, Dorothy, John, Mary, Sarah second, and Rebecca.A little bay, on the south side of Nahant, from its having beenthe favorite bathing resort of his daughter Dorothy, is still calledDorothy's cove.The selectmen, or, as they were called, " the seven prudentiallmen," this year, were, Thomas Laighton, Richard Walker,Andrew Mansfield, William Bassett, Nathaniel Kertland, JohnBurrill, and Ralph King.The price of corn this year was two shillings a bushel.On the tenth of June, the first Quaker meetinghouse, inLynn, " was raised on Wolf Hill," near the spot where theirmeetinghouse now stands.The whole town, till the year 1715, was regarded as constitutingone parish.The inhabitants generally voted togetherin its pecuniary affairs, made agreements with the ministers,and paid their taxes in accordance. The first church whichthey formed was in conformity with the faith of John Calvin.The covenant was long, and, as respects the language, wellwritten ; but it has since been laid aside for another more compendious.Next came the Baptists, about twelve years after the settlementof the town. They made a greater departure from theChurch, by denying the right of infants to be baptized, and ofadults to partake of the communion, unless baptized by immersion.They found a few supporters, several of whom werebrought before the court for their belief; but they did not succeedin forming a society.Then, forty five years after the settlement, came the followersof George Fox, at first called Quakers, and afterwardFriends, who made a still wider separation. They contendedthat all the existing modes of church government were incorrect; that tlie custom of ordaining and paying ministers wasimproper ; and that the sacraments of Baptism and die Lord'sSupper, two divine ordinances instituted by our Savior himself,should be wholly set aside. This })ersuasion was a great trial