Page 52

CHAPTER VII

THE PARSON AND PARSONAGE. -- BURLINGTON OR PRECINCT PARSONAGE. -- GUESTS OF APRIL 19, 1775. -- REED HOME

      THE word parson from its derivation - French personae, Latin persona-suggests the attitude of that official in New England. He was the person of the town. He furnished, hot merely spiritual food, but much of the intellectual and social stimulus, for the entire people.
      The voice of the preacher was regarded as the voice of God. The words spoken from the pulpit passed from lip to lip as the sacred oracles of the olden times.
      In many of the colonies the clergy were the only learned class, and in some instances even schooled in the medical profession, serving their people as healers of both body and soul.
      The parsonage was the centre of influence, and to it resorted many people. When journeying they did not hesitate to halt at the hospitable door, and were never refused the best the house afforded. The stated salary of the minister was meagre indeed, but it represented only a part of the amount annually bestowed upon him and his family. There were many in the parish who felt

Page 53

it incumbent upon them to leave at the parsonage a tithing of all their produce, thereby making it possible for the good wife to respond to oft-repeated calls upon her bounty.
      The clergy as a class were conservative, and inclined to favor existing institutions; but when the difficulties with the mother country assumed form, when it was necessary for action to be taken, the pastors of the so-called Puritan Congregational Churches favored the Colonial cause In some instances they joined the ranks of the minute-men and shouldered a musket, and many more served as chaplains in camp and hospital.
      The parson in many country towns was an ardent Whig, notably so in Lexington and Concord. Rev. Jonas Clark of the former, and Rev. William Emerson of the latter, were so outspoken as to be known as "Patriot Priests," or "High Sons of Liberty." Much of the spirit of resistance to British oppression in those towns was attributable to their utterances.
      A Tory writer says in a letter dated Sept. 2, 1774: "Some of the ministers are continually stirring up the people to resistance. It was urged that salvation depended upon signing certain inflammatory papers, when the people flew to their pens with an eagerness that sufficiently attested their belief in their pastors."
      The person who could make the most lawless village ruffian cower and slink away by a look,

Page 54

who presided over a community of church-goers, and who had a paternal care for everything and every one in it, has passed away. So has the New England parsonage in its realistic sense been relegated to the bygones. But the house, the parsonage, in many instances yet remains, occupied in some cases by descendants in the third or fourth generation from the patriot priest of 1775. To these homes in their present well-kept condition I now invite my readers, while we there consider the footsteps of the patriots.
      The Lexington parsonage has passed out of the family possession; but to its well-kept grounds all may go, and there in a well directed fancy may see the guard of minute-men in command of Sergeant Munroe as they keep their all-night vigil. Within, the rooms are reanimated by the voices of the noted patriots, Hancock and Adams; the graceful figure of Dorothy Quincy and the matronly form of Madam Hancock add dignity to the hour and occasion.
      It was perfectly natural that those notable patriots should have turned their footsteps to the Lexington parsonage. They were just from a meeting of the Committee of Correspondence and Safety, and were fully aware of the precarious situation of the avowed friends of the Colonial cause in Boston, and that for them the British halter was already threatened.
      It was not merely the sympathy for one cause

Page 55

that attracted them to that home, but kinship had allured them as well. Mrs. Clark, wife of the patriot priest, was cousin to the opulent young merchant, John Hancock. The proud step and richly embroidered costume of this guest were not strange to that home. It had been the abode of his paternal ancestry for many years. There he had spent much of his boyhood with his grandfather, Rev. John Hancock, the pastor of Lexington. Where he was, his elder friend and adviser, Samuel Adams, well might be.
      Tender relations and fondest hopes account for the presence of the others in the group that night. The subject of conversation that evening can easily be imagined. "John Hancock, being in England, was present at the funeral of George II., and also at the coronation of George III., pageants congenial to his taste." He stood almost at the head of the merchants of Boston, had been an object of flattery, and strongly urged to join the royal party; but thanks to Samuel Adams, the young merchant was so decided in his course that he could say, while thinking of that princely residence and all else: " Burn Boston, and make John Hancock a beggar, if the public good requires it!" Had there been a word of doubt or any hesitancy expressed as to the righteousness of the cause in which the noted guests were champions, it would have been dissipated by the firm convictions of Rev. Jonas Clark.

Page 56

      The messengers from Boston were not only to warn --

"The country folk to be up and to arm,"

but to look out for the safety of Hancock and Adams. Those proud spirits could not easily be persuaded to flee from any power. But the appeal in behalf of the future welfare of the Colonies inclined them to consent; and having heard the first shots, and uttered memorable words, these noted men were conducted from one parsonage to another.
      Over in Woburn Precinct, Burlington, was another parsonage. It was but a few miles away. The minister, Rev. Thomas Jones, had recently died; but his widow, well known to Rev. Jonas Clark, was an ardent Whig. There was a young minister, Rev. John Marrett, at this home, who was destined to be the successor of the deceased pastor in both pastoral and family relations. The Lexington pastor and his guests had confidence in all the occupants of the Precinct parsonage, and made haste in that direction. They made a halt at the home of James Reed, a well-known patriot, but soon pushed on; and as the gilded coach rolled up to the door of the parsonage, open arms and hearts were in anxious waiting. The patriots, with Miss Quincy, were soon comfortably ensconced in Madam Jones's best room.
      It may be of interest to the reader to know

[Photo - "Precinct Parsonage, Sewall Home, Burlington"]

Page 57

something of the history of the Precinct parsonage before following this morning's guests any farther. Leaving them seated before the crackling fire, the freshly scoured brass of the hand-irons reflecting their brilliant costumes in most pleasing pictures, we take the hand of the present owner, 1895, Samuel Sewall, of the fourth generation, and hear from him the story of the --

PRECINCT PARSONAGE.

      It was purchased by Rev. Thomas Jones, my great-grandfather, in 1751. He was the second minister of the town, filling that position in the broadest sense of the term until his death in 1774. He lived to see the beginning of the Revolutionary troubles, and to make an impression as an avowed patriot, but, like Moses of old, died without entering the promised land of freedom. He was succeeded by Rev. John Marrett, who married his daughter, and hence the pastoral association continued with this house. This young minister, my grandfather, proved to be a most worthy associate of the ministers of Lexington and Concord. Besides his regular duties, he gave much attention to the poor of Boston, who were sent out to the town, sheltering some in this house. He also made frequent visits to the camp at Cambridge, and there administered to the wants of the needy. He kept a daily record of the vicissitudes of the times, and this record is one of the precious relics

[Photo - "Site of Amos Wyman House, Billerica"]

Page 58

of our family. Strangely enough Rev. Mr. Marrett's successor, Rev. Samuel Sewall, married the daughter of his predecessor, and the charm still remained. I was the only son of Rev. Samuel Sewall and Mary Marrett; with two sisters I occupy the ancestral home. Here my children and grandchildren have been born, and are enjoying the same privilege. Hence, six generations have already occupied the parsonage, and many reminders of the first are constantly before the sixth generation." This well-kept home presents much of the same appearance that cheered the eyes of the noted guests of April 19, 1775, when Hancock's gilded coach rolled up to the door.

[Photo - "Parsonage Table"]

      Old-fashioned hospitality found expression in an early spread of the best the house afforded. Madam Jones made haste to prepare a meal worthy of her guests; she was aided by Cuff, the faithful negro slave of the parsonage. A spring salmon had been passed in to the door of the Lexington parsonage in honor of the guests. This was sent

Page 59

on by a messenger to the Precinct, and was prepared by Madam Jones. All being ready, the guests were seated about the best table, with Rev. John Marrett as the host. Grace had been duly said, and they were just to begin the welcome meal, when a hurried messenger entered the house announcing that the British were coming in hot pursuit, and entreating them to flee for their lives. Some made haste to secrete the telltale coach under cover of Path Woods, while Rev. Mr. Marrett conducted the patriots by a devious way through the woods to the obscure home of Amos Wyman, in a distant corner of the town, where it borders on the towns of Billerica and Bedford.
      As soon as the immediate fright was over, Messrs. Hancock and Adams, with appetites whetted to a keen edge by the morning ride and the savory smell of the feast left so suddenly, were glad to eat cold boiled salt pork and potatoes, with rye bread from a wooden tray taken down by Mrs. Wyman from a shelf above the fireplace. Strange diet indeed for these people accustomed to the best the market afforded. It was all the variety Mrs. Wyman had, and was given cheerfully to guests whose like she had never entertained before. Her act was not forgotten. Like the widow of Zarephath, who fed the prophet Elijah, she had her reward. It is said that John Hancock presented her with a cow,

[Photo - Flight of Hancock and Adams From the Precinct Parsonage. (Present Appearance of the Path)"]

Page 60

when the affairs of the colony were so far adjusted as to admit of outside attention.
      The alarm that drove the patriots from the Precinct parsonage proved to be false, and no unwelcome guest came to that door that day.

[Photo (drawing) - "Parsonage Clock"]

It was one of the youthful pleasures of Mr. Sewall of the present day, to accompany his honored father, Rev. Samuel Sewall, in his old age, to the Hancock mansion on Beacon Hill, Boston, and there listen to the conversation with Madam Scott, the "Dorothy Q." of 1775. An allusion to the experience related alway brought a smile to her aged face, and recalled her aunt whose name she bore, and of whom Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote:

"Grandmother's mother! Her age, I guess, Thirteen summers, or something less; Girlish bust, but womanly air; Smooth, square forehead, with uprolled hair; Lips that lover has never kissed; Taper fingers, and slender waist, Hanging sleeves of stiff brocade-- So they painted the little maid. . . . . . . . What if a hundred years ago Those close-shut lips had answered no,

Page 61

When forth the tremulous question came That cost the maiden her Norman name; And under the folds that look so still The bodice swelled with the bosom's thrill? Should I be I, or would it be One-tenth another to nine-tenths me?"

      There is another house in Burlington where the scenes of April 19, 1775, have left a lasting interest. It is the --

REED HOME.

      Here Hancock's coach halted when on that memorable trip from Lexington, but soon hastened on with its company, making way for the British prisoners to be lodged here. At this home is met Mr. Edward Reed, the present owner and occupant. He was preceded in the possession by his father and grandfather, both named James Reed. "In this room," said Mr. Reed to the writer, "the prisoners captured at Lexington were held in custody. My grandfather said, 'I was making ready to go over to Lexington when I saw some of the minute-men coming with a squad of the redcoats. They brought them here to my house, and gave them up to me, informing me of the affairs at Lexington. I could not then go on in the pursuit, as I was given the custody of those prisoners. I did my duty faithfully, treated them well, as they would say to-day if they could come around; but I guess they would not want to run the gantlet of the Yankees again.'"

Table of Contents