NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 
“Historical Sketch 
Presented at Bi-centennial Celebration of the Orthodox 
Congregational Church, Manchester, 
‘‘The Puritan did not stop to 
think; he recognized God in his 
soul and acted.’’ 
UR fore-fathers took their religion 
seriously. John Higginson in an 
election sermon preached May 27th, 
1663, said—‘‘ My fathers and Brethren, 
this is never to be forgotten, that New 
England is originally a plantation of 
religion, not a plantation of trade.’’ 
At the first General Court held in the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony it was voted 
—‘To the end the body of the Com- 
mons may be preserved of honest and 
good men,’’ it was ‘‘ordered and 
agreed that for the time to come, no 
man shall be admitted to the freedom 
of this body politic, but such as are 
members of some of the Churches with- 
in the limits of the same.’’ 
In 1675 it was enacted that a meeting- 
house should be erected in every town 
in the colony. In those primitive times 
the meeting-house was the center 
around which the doings of the town 
revolved, 
The position of the New England 
minister was one of great power and 
authority. The story is told of the 
Rev. Ezekiel Rogers of Rowley, that a 
stranger in town, meeting him enquired, 
‘fare you the man who serves here?’’ 
““No,’’ he answered, ‘‘I am the man 
who rules here.’’ 
Very little is known about the early 
church history of Manchester. Ser- 
vices were held in the fields ana in the 
houses of the settlers before a meeting- 
house could be built. In Dr. BE. W. 
Leach’s manuscript history of Man- 
chester, you will find pasted on one of 
the leaves a scrap of paper. On this 
faded remnant, in the handwriting of 
the Rev, Ames Cheever, are the names 
of some thirteen ministers who preach- 
ed in this town before 1716. The list 
is as follows ‘‘Jenners, Smith, Stow, 
Dunham, Hubbard, Emerson, Goodhue, 
Eveleth and Webster.’’? No explana- 
tion accompanies this list and it is evi- 
dently incomplete for no mention is 
made of the name of Nathaniel Mas- 
terson, who without doubt was one of 
the early preachers, 
A court record of 1651 goes to show 
that the Rev. Thomas Dunham was 
preaching in Manchester at that time 
and that there were some in the town 
that did not care for his preaching. 
The record says ‘Edmund Marshall of 
Manchester was presented in 1651 for 
absenting himself from the public ordi- 
nances three or four Sabbath days, and 
for reproaching Mr. Thomas Dunham 
in saying that he had preached blas- 
phemy and was a common liar.’? In 
the same year ‘‘Wm. Allen, Pascoe Foot 
and John Sibley were presented to the 
Grand Jury for absence from public 
ordinances three or four Sabbaths.?? 
In the town records of 1691—that of 
Jan. 18—is as follows: ‘‘Whereas our 
old meeting house being the most Con- 
siderable part of it Rotten and the sd 
By ROBERT T. GLENDENNING, M. D. 
house allso being too small to Acomo- 
date our people when Conveined to- 
gether for the Worship and service of 
god. It is therefore voted and fully 
agreed to have a new meeting hous 
built of these Dimentions following: 
the Length to be therty foot, the 
breadth their of to be tweenty five 
foot, the height between the sell and 
the plate to be sixteen foot, the form 
of the Ruff of the sd house to be in the 
same form of beverly or Wenham 
meeting hous with a—belvery on the 
top of the sd house suteable for a good 
Bell of about a hundred Waight or 
more and three galleries to be built, 
that is to say one on won side of the 
whole Length of sd house, and the 
other tow at each end the whole 
breadth of sd house. And it voted and 
agreed that the Committee are now 
chosen namely John Siblee, Robert 
Leach, Thomas West, Samuel. Alen 
Senr. John Lee and William Alen or 
the major part of them Doe and are at 
this ad meeting fully Impowered by 
the town to Agree with a workman to 
build the sd house for and in behalf 
of the town at the sd towns Cost and 
Charge all to bee paid in mony at tow 
paiments to Witt the first paiment 
when. the above sd house is Raised 
which is voted to be by or on the 
tenth Day of June next Insuing and 
the Last paiment to be made When 
the sd house is finished Which is to be 
don by the Lad day of October. folow- 
ing, the sd house to be set near the old 
meeting house Where the above sd 
Committee or the Major part of them 
ao appoint or Determine; and see that 
the sd house be every ways Completely 
finished with seats and all other decent 
and suteable Apartanances  theirto 
Convieniant for the whole house both 
within and without as the sd Commit- 
tee or the major part of them Doth 
order and the abov sd Committee 
or major part of them are to place the 
people in the seats of the sd house.’’ 
The church had a number of candi- 
dates after the departure of Mr. Eve- 
leth, the Rey. Edward Thompson of 
Newbury being one for the town voted 
ten pounds for his moving expenses. 
For some reason he did not accept the 
call though he came to the town, and 
they called the Rev; John Emerson. At 
a town meeting held Oct. 19, 1696 it 
was voted ‘‘that the bell now procured 
by Mr. John Emerson shall be hanged 
in the meeting-house as soon as it can 
be with convenyance.’’ On the 28th 
of the same month and year it was 
voted in town meeting ‘‘to give Hph- 
ram Hones one pound and four  shil- 
lings per year to ring the bell and 
sweep the meeting house and to per- 
form the office of sexton according to 
the order of the selectmen.’’?’ Mr. 
Emerson resigned in 1698. 
In 1698 Nicholas Webster assumed 
the duties of minister to the Manches- 
ter chureh. In 1700 he was asked to 
July azo; 
1916 
become permanent pastor. Although 
declining the offer he remained with 
the church till 1715, At a town meet- 
ing April 238, 1699, a committee was 
appointed ‘‘to build a new parsonage 
42 ft. long, 18 feet wide and 14 ft, 
stud, to be located. near the meeting 
house at the discretion of the commit- 
tee.’’ They voted 50 pounds toward 
the expense. The house was located on 
School street near the spot where the 
Capt. John Carter house now stands. 
Although Manchester had been set- 
tled for nearly three-quarters of a cen- 
tury they had no church organization 
though they had their meeting house. 
It being necessary that they be mem- 
bers of some church to be freemen 
they communed with the Salem chureh 
till 1677 when they united with the 
Beverly Church. In 1715 they decided 
that the time had come to enter into a 
church state and the matter was taken 
up in town meeting, 
““At a town meting legally warned 
and mett together on the 23 Day of 
July, 1716, mr. Robert Leach, modera- 
ter, it is Voted that our commete now 
extant shall have full power to agree 
with Mr. Ames Chevers to be our Set- 
teld| minester according to gospale 
order and to give him a eall to settel 
with us in the ministry and accept of 
Ordination. ’’ 
The Rev. Ames Cheever was the son 
of Rev. Samuel Cheever of Marblehead 
and grandson of the famous school- 
master Exekiel Cheever of Boston. He 
was born in 1686, He graduated from 
Harvard in 1707. He was the husband 
of four wives and the father of four- 
teen children, He had the interests 
of his people at heart and was their 
faithful advisor in temporal as well as 
spiritual things. He took a great in- 
terest in agricultural matters and did 
much to help in the education of the 
children and youth of the town, teach- 
ing the school one year. 
During Mr. Cheever’s pastorate, on 
Oct: 29, 1727, the people were very 
much alarmed by an earthquake, In 
those times the people regarded such 
mysterious convulsions of nature as an 
evidence of the divine displeasure. In 
this case a lengthy revival followed and 
forty people joined the church. Mr, 
Cheever resigned his charge in 1743. 
He made Manchester his home for the 
rest of his life. He died in 1756 in the 
70th year of his age. 
The church was without a_ settled 
minister for some two years after Mr. 
Cheever gave up his charge, but they 
united in 1745 and gave a e¢all to the 
Rev. Benjamin Tappan. It was a 
troublesome period in the colony dur- 
ing Mr. Tappan’s stay in Manchester 
and the people were very poor and at 
times were not able to pay his salary. 
Through it all he was their faithful 
pastor and was much loved by his 
peonle. 
After the death of Mr. Tapran the 
al i Oe ts 
