402 



BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE 



Pierson (A.) — Continued. 



from Boston, September 22d, 1658, they added: 

 "By our last of the 16th Instant wee certifyed 

 you of our purpose to send Mr. Persons Cati- 

 chisme by the first oppertunitie to bee printed 

 in England since which time it is come to our 

 hands but vpon further consideration in regard 

 of the hazard of sending and difficultie of true 

 printing it without a fitt ouerseer of the presse 

 by one skilled in the language wee haue chosen 

 rather to haue it printed heer and accordingly 

 haue taken order for the same and hope it wil- 

 bee finished within three monthes." 



The printing was not begun, probably, until 

 two or three months later, as only the first 

 sheet (sixteen pages, including the title) had 

 been "wrought off from the presse" of Sam- 

 uel Green at Cambridge, when the ship by 

 which a specimen was sent to England sailed 

 from Boston at the end of December of the 

 same year. This specimen sheet was reprinted 

 for the Corporation in their report entitled "A 

 further Accompt of the Progresse of the Gos- 

 pel amongst the Indians in New -England," 

 which was published in London before May, 

 1659. Although the title of the Cambridge 

 edition is dated 1658, the impression of the 

 catechism was not finished until the autumn or 

 winter of the following year. On the 7th of 

 May, 1659, the Corporation wrote to the Com- 

 missioners: " Conserning youer printing Mr. 

 Peirsons Catichisme in the Indian language in 

 New England wee concurr with youer judg- 

 ments therein Conceiveing you haue ordered it 

 for the best; in regard that such errors as may 

 bee comited in printing the same wilbee the 

 better corrected there then they would heer ; 

 . . . wee haue thought good to print youer 

 last letter with two other letters receiued from 

 Mr. Endicot and Mr. Elliott; as also the In- 

 dians exhortations and the sheet of Catichisme 

 composed by Mr. Pierson all which are printed 

 for publicke satisfaction." To this letter the 

 Commissioners replied from Hartford. Septem- 

 ber 7th, 1659: "we haue ordered Mr. Vsher to 

 send you forty Cop.yes of Mr. Peirsons Catti- 

 chisme if finished before the shipes sett sayle ; 

 but feare by reason of Mr. Piersons sicknes 

 the worke may haue bin retarded; and we and 

 you suflfer a disapointment ; but wee shall en- 

 deauor by the next to satisfy youer expecta- 

 tions therin." In the account of charges sent 

 with this letter, was one item of 40Z., "To 

 Mr. Green for printing the Psalmes and Mr. 

 Piersons Catichisme." At the meeting held in 

 New Haven in September, 1660, it was resolved 

 that "The Comissioners for the Massachu- 

 setts are desired and Impowered to accoumpt 

 with Mr. Green for the forty pounds payed him 

 the last yeare on account for printing Mr. Peir- 

 sons Cattachisme and the Psalmes." Thetreas- 

 urer's account of "Indian stocke" submitted 

 at their next meeting at Plymouth in Septem- 

 ber, 1661, contained an entry of 51., "Item by 

 discount with Mr. Green ouer paied on account 

 of printing Mr. Peirsons Catechisme." The 



Pierson (A.) — Continued. 



present knowledge of the fact that this cate- 

 chism is not in the Narragansett or Pequot dia- 

 lect of eastern and southern Connecticut, as 

 might be inferred from the letters and records 

 of the Commissioners, but in that of tho Qui- 

 ripi or southwestern Indians of the same colony, 

 is due entirely to the learned researches of Dr. 

 Trumbull. 



The salary paid by the Commissioners to 

 Mr. Pierson for his labor in instructing the In- 

 dians was raised from 15^ to 20^. in 1657, and 

 again to 30Z. in 1661; but at the meeting in 

 September, 1667, his allowance for services 

 during the year was lowered to 151., probably 

 on account of his removal from Branford. In 

 1665, when New Haven Colony was joined to 

 Connecticut, Mr. Pierson again came under the 

 church laws, which led him to remove from 

 Southampton. A large number of the inhabi- 

 tants of Branford were of the same mind as 

 their pastor, and accordingly in 1666 they 

 united with others of Milford, Guilford, and 

 neighboring towns in founding a new settle- 

 ment on the banks of the Passaic River, in New 

 Jersey, to which they gave the name of New- 

 ark. To the new town Mr. Pierson and his 

 congregation removed, probably in June, 1667. 

 and there he remained as the first minister of 

 the new church until his death, August 9th, 

 1678. He was succeeded in the ministry by his 

 son, Abraham Pierson, junior, who had been 

 his assistant since 1669, and who afterwards 

 became the first rector of Tale College, in Con- 

 necticut, where he died in 1707. After Mr. 

 Pierson's removal from Branford, Mr. James 

 Fitch, senior, tlie pastor of the church at Nor- 

 wich, " having gained some understanding in 

 the Indian language, " preached to the Indians 

 who lived near him. In a letter to Daniel 

 Gookin. dated November 20th, 1674, he wrote of 

 the result of Mr. Pierson's labors as follows: 

 "Concerning the Indians in this colony and at 

 Long Island, I cannot understand that they 

 have any inclination to learn the knowledge of 

 God : but when Mr. Pierson did frequently try, 

 in the several plantations in this colonj', they 

 did generally show an averseness, yea a per- 

 verse contempt of the word of God ; and at 

 present they will not yield to any settled hear- 

 ing or attendance upon the ministry of the 

 word." 



Pierz (Franz). Die Indianer | in Nord- 

 America, | ihre | Lebensweise, Sitten, 

 Gebrauche u. s. w., | nach vieljahrigem 

 Aufenthalte | und gesammelten Erfah- 

 rungen unter den verschiedenen | 

 Stammen, | bearbeitet von | Franz 

 Pierz, I Katholischem Mission ar. | 



St. Louis, Mo. I Druck und Verlag 

 der Buchhandlung von Franz Taler u. 

 Co. I 1855. 



Title verso blank 1 1. preface verso blank 1 1. 

 text pp. 5-130, inhalt 1 1. 12°. 



