Records of the First Church in Beverly Massachusetts
Volume 1-1667-1772

“A Church Book for the
Church att Bass River Syde”

Introduction

Sections of the First Volume

Special Notes on the conventions used in Volume 2

Introduction

The oldest record of our Church was initiated as a soft-cover journal on September 20, 1667 by Rev. John Hale, the first minister, and carefully maintained by him or an appointed Parish Clerk.  Upon Rev. Hale’s death in 1700, two subsequent ministers kept the record current; Rev. Thomas Blowers, who served from 1701 to his death in 1729, and Rev. Joseph Champney, who served from 1729 to his death in 1772.  Recording was concluded with the installation of Rev. Joseph Willard in November 1772, who started a second book of Church records.

The volume was preserved and bound by the Essex Institute (what is today, the Philips Library at the Peabody-Essex Museum) in 1900, at the request of its president, William P. Upham (who was also the Clerk of First Parish Church in Beverly).  The preservation techniques used by the Institute, while reflecting great respect for the volume, were not ones that we would perform today.  Nevertheless, the end result is a book in a fairly good state of preservation for its age.  Upon completion, the book was relegated to a bank vault where it has remained with very rare removals to the present day. 

In spite of its careful storage, its age makes Volume 1 a most fragile document.  The binding is in good condition but the pages are deteriorating due to improperly controlled storage environment and the iron gall ink.    It is for this reason that the decision was made to digitize and archive the pages.  The original has been enclosed in a custom clamshell box and replaced into safe storage.

Upham published parts of the volume in a series of articles in the “Essex Institute Historical Collections” in 1903-4 (Volumes 39 and 40).  In 1905, the articles were republished as a book called “Records of the First Church in Beverly Massachusetts 1667-1772” (Salem, Essex Institute, 1905), supplemented with notes prepared by Augustus A.  Galloupe (another First Parish member) that identified the maiden name of some of the listed women.   Upham’s transcription is of good quality and faithfully reproduces the original text of the work.  However, it includes neither the table of events found in the original volume nor any sort of index.

Hard cover bound, the book measures 8” by 12’ by 1 ¼”and comprises 310 cotton velum pages each about 7 ½ by 11 ½ inches.   The original cloth covers were pasted onto the front and back covers and coated by a clear lacquer during preservation.   The inscription, only dimly visible, reads, “A Church Book for the Church att Bass River Syde”.  Pasted inside the front and back cover are small pieces of paper with inscriptions.  Most of these are now illegible, but dates can be discerned from the early 18^th century.  One piece of paper, taped into the inside front cover, records the visitation by Church members to the house of Nehemiah Grover (undated but probably about 1693).  The back cover includes two taped pages:  One records the wish of Ephraim Herrick to admit his wife and baby to the Church, while a second records tax assessments, both undated. 

The pages in the first part of the volume are numbered, although these are now mostly illegible.  When Rev. Champney began his entries in 1729, he chose not to continue the numbering scheme.  As a result, Upham was unable to track his entries to later pages of the volume.  There is one pagination error in the volume:  Pages 193-198 do not exist.  Pages after 200, representing entries made by Rev. Champney, are not numbered.

The first twelve and last six pages of the book appeared to have been in exceedingly poor condition at the time of the preservation,  and were pasted onto onion skin paper after being split width-wise.  It is truly remarkable that such technology was even possible at the turn of the 20^th century.  The remaining pages appear to be original.  The ink used was an iron based formula known as gall which has retained its readability, although at the expense of the paper beneath it.  There are several pages that are a challenge to read because of long term deterioration of the paper.  Eventually, iron gall ink will decompose the underlying paper to the point that the document becomes completely unreadable, underscoring the importance of capturing their images in digital form.

One loose scrap of paper is stored inside the book, pasted onto a piece of onion-skinned paper.  It contains a partial inscription in the hand of Robert Morgan that appears to be some sort of judgment against John Woodbury  (the details and the date are not evident from the fragment.) 

As was typical for Church record books of this time, volume 1 was roughly divided into sections which were reserved for Church meetings minutes, baptisms, admissions and communions.  As a result, Volume 1 contains several sections of blank pages, reserved for additional entries.  Paper was a precious commodity, and these unused areas were often used to record special or unexpected events.  For example Thomas Blowers used the last several pages to record minutes of a special Synod of Puritan churches held on September 13 1705.  The minutes are written upside down. 

Robert Morgan was the first Parish Clerk, and his hand is evident in the early pages.  However, Hale, Blowers and Champney also wrote entries.  Only baptisms, Communions and Church meeting records were recorded initially. Recording of deaths did not commence until 1711, and then only through 1724.    Marriages were not considered a Church sacrament and thus were not recorded until the arrival of Rev. Champney. Recording of marriages commenced in 1720 and cease in 1740.   Burials and marriages were not recorded again until the second volume was begun in 1772. 

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Sections of the first Volume:

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Front Pages

Notes on the Formation of First Parish by John Hale

Church Records (Communion, Covenant, Church Meetings), 1667-1701

Deaths 1711-1724

Church Records (Communion, Covenant, Church Meetings (to 1729) 1701-1772

Baptisms 1667-1772

Marriages 1729/30-1740

Church Meetings 1730-1772

Family Record of John Cabot and Hannah, his Wife

Notes on Consociation of Churches Proposal 1706

Names of the Brethren & Sisters of Beverly Church 

Front Pages:  The inside front cover contains what looks like an original inside page pasted into the cover.  This page includes several scribbles and pencil doodles.  The writing is, by and large illegible except for one paper passed on one side which includes in pen a notation about Nehemiah Grover.  Following two blank folio pages there is a title page which is all but indecipherable.  One can make out the phrase “church of Beverly” and several names.  On the next page is one sentence: “Rev. John Hale died in the middle of May 1700”.  The next page contains a very faint passage, now illegible, that was reproduced on the first page of Upham’s book: 

The next page includes a very brief table of contents as follows:

Note that the last entry was never finished.

The next pages include a very complete list of significant events of the Parish and are listed below in their entirety:

There is a blank page between the tables.

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Notes on the Formation of First Parish and Ordination of John Hale (pp 1-10):  These pages appear to have been written by Robert Morgan, and signed by Rev. Hale.  They contain the well known story of how a small group of residents north of the Bass River repeatedly petitioned the Church in Salem to be permitted to be set off as a separate Church.  Prominently listed are the names of the seventy five original petitioners, and another list of fifty two signers of the first Covenant, those who began the Church.  Following this is a description of the Ordination service.  Robert Morgan’s signature concludes the section.

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Church Records (Communion, Covenant, Meetings), 1667-1701:  (pp 10-32): The records begin quite inauspiciously just below the description of the ordination.  The style of most entries is that the date is in the left margin, while the entry is indented to the right.  It is difficult to tell with authority, but it appears that after page 21 (1677 20:1 mo) Rev Hale recorded most of the entries until page 30 (5.3.1700) when the handwriting changes.  Upham says that Mr. Blowers’ handwriting begins on the 19^th of the 6^th month 1701.

Rev. Blowers occasionally used a shorthand notation to record personal notes.  At the bottom of page 32, after a crossed-out entry detailing the calling of Rev. Nicholas Noyes of Christ church in Salem to be the pastor followed by another entry confirming Mr. Blowers as the Pastor, Rev. Blowers made the following entry in shorthand (Note:  This is an interpretation of the cipher by William Upham): 

There were two separate oaths administered by the Minister, to be recited in public worship in order to be admitted to the Church.  The first was a standard oath recited by those who had been properly dismissed from their prior church and recommended to the Beverly Church.  These individuals were said to be “admitted to full communion” The second, called the Baptismal or “halfway” covenant” was recited by those who wished to have their families baptized but who could not-or would not- become full members of the Church.  These individuals were said to have “Admitted to own the covenant”.  This second covenant became necessary because of the ever-growing population living in Beverly without proper dismission from another Church. 

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Deaths 1711-1724 (p 32):  Almost an afterthought, this page contains the only mention of deaths in the entire volume.  While it is obvious that deaths and burials occurred within the Church’s domain from the founding of the Parish to 1711, there is no record for them, or for deaths or burials after 1724 to 1772. 

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Church Records (Communion, Covenant, Meetings to 1729) 1701-1772 (pp 33-60):  The records of the Church continue as a mixture of baptisms, Church meetings and Communions.  Page 44 is the transition point between the entries of Rev. Blowers and Rev. Champney.   On this page is a description of the Ordination service for Rev. Champney.  After this point the entries are limited to Communions, Owning the Covenant, Dismissions and Admonitions.

An interesting type of entry often made in the record was the admonition.  In the Puritan standard of behavior, it was the responsibility of each Church member to be ever watchful of his neighbor’s sins and transgressions.  A member was expected to report these to the Minister, who would single out the offender in Church with an admonition to repent.  A meaningful recitation of the sins was usually sufficient to redeem the offending member in the eyes of the congregation.  On rare occasions, the recitation was insufficient and the member was put under the watch of the Church.  His rights to obtain Communion were suspended until the Congregation decided he had rehabilitated himself.  On April 19, 1719 for example,

 Excommunication was the ultimate punishment of the Church.  There is only one such penalty recorded in the book, for the son of the Parish Clerk:

Blank pages, (pp 61-149)

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Baptisms 1667-1772 (pp 150-251):  This is a list of individuals who were baptized in the church.  The vast majority of those listed were infants and small children but some were baptized as adults, as part of admission to full communion or owning the covenant. 

Blank pages (pp 252-259)  

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Marriages 1729/30-1740 (pp 260-262):  Like the record of deaths, the pages devoted to marriages cover only a short period of time, commencing with Rev. Champney’s arrival.  Marriage was not considered a religious sacrament of the Puritan Church and ceremonies were considered a civil affair.  Unlike the marriage records from later volumes, these entries almost never include the names of the parents, although they always mention the residence of the couples. 

Blank Pages (pp 263-267)

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Church Meetings 1730-1772 (pp 268-279, 281):  Amongst the many changes in recording style made by Rev. Champney was the movement of Church meeting records to a separate part of the volume.  In these early times, decisions affecting the church were made in a general meeting of the Congregation, including matters of worship, membership, admonitions and policy.  Most often, these meetings were held after the Sunday service, although in busy times a mid-week meeting would be called.  As participation in the affairs of the church began to dwindle after 1700, these meetings might be held at the home of one of the Congregants, or even at a nearby tavern or inn.    It was not until the time of the Revolutionary War that the notion of an annual meeting took root in the Church.

Blank Pages (pp 280, 282-301)

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Family Record of John Cabot and Hannah, his Wife (p 302):  This entry occupies its own page.  Curiously, the dates of birth of the children all occur between 1780 and 1787, which should have meant placement in the second volume.

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Consociation of Churches (Cotton Mather’s) proposal 1705 (pp 303-304, reversed):  Throughout the Puritan period, churches in Massachusetts bay attempted to form synods or “consociations”, which could  settle disputes between congregations and establish firm control over the laity.  However, the concept of a “mother” church organization was antithetical to the charge given to the first settlers by John Cotton to keep the congregations autonomous.  The proposal, made by Cotton Mather and Samuel Willard at a council that took place in Boston on September 13, 1705 and recorded here by Thomas Blowers was such an attempt and, like the others, this one also failed to be accepted.  In fact, even though Rev. Blowers (one of the five clergymen to participate in the meeting) took careful notes of the proposal, there is no indication that he ever brought them before the Beverly congregation.  Because the Puritan Churches never formed a regulatory body agreeable to the clergy, many variations and irregularities in congregational worship were introduced precipitating one religious crisis after another.  In time, the unity of the Puritan faith was fatally undermined leading to the plethora of Protestant faiths we see today.

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Names of the Brethren & Sisters of Beverly Church (pp305-306, reversed):  On these pages are listed some 225 members of the Church between 1700, when Thomas Blowers became the Pastor and 1729, when Rev. Champney was installed.  The list, begun in the hand of Rev. Blowers and concluded by Rev. Champney, includes members from Beverly proper as well asmembers who were referred to as “outsetters” from Manchester, Ryal Side, and Salem.  That the list was begun before 1705 is suggested by the placement of the list on the last pages of the volume, before Rev. Blowers made his notes on Cotton Mather’s proposals.  It is interesting to note that even at this time the number of adult members of the Church was only about 50% larger than the number of members we have today. 

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Special Notes on the conventions used in Volume 1:

Use of the letter “f” instead of “s”.  18^th and 19^th century script conventions called for the writer to use the lower case “f” instead of an “s” particularly with a double “S”.  The index always uses an “s”.

Special symbols “+” and “*”:  These symbols occur within selected record entries.  The plus sign may have been used to indicate the early death of an individual but this is not clear.  The asterisk was used for many reasons, most often to indicate a missed sequence or to add a footnote. Their meaning within certain entries remains unclear.

Old Style vs. New Style Dates:  In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII officially changed the calendar used in the Catholic world.  Prior to that, the New Year began on March 1 instead of January 1.  Gregory also had eleven days removed from the calendar to account for an abundance of leap years in the old Julian calendar initiated by Julius Caesar.  The Gregorian calendar was not adopted in England or its colonies until it was decreed by the King on 25 March 1752 resulting in some confusion in dates recorded between these dates and the convention of dual dating came into general practice.  Dates falling between January and February included two years, usually separated with a slash for as in 9 January 1668/9.  It was common practice in old style dating to refer to the months by their ordinal position in the calendar so the above date might be more likely written in Old Style as 9-12mo 1668.  In the first volume, old style and new style dates are used interchangeably even on the same page making it a challenge to determine what was intended by the recorder.   Given that the volume was written in date order, the best way to be sure of a date is to look at the surrounding dates. 

Spelling conventions:  In examining the script in this volume, one might get the impression that the writers were not good spellers.  In fact, it was quite fashionable to misspell words, particularly when the same word was used twice in close proximity.  The practice is observed less in the records written in the late 18^th century and disappears from our Church records completely by 1800.

Common abbreviations:  Due to the constrained nature of the page, abbreviations were often used.  Many have different meaning than what we know today.  Wherever possible, the index preserves these abbreviations as they occur in the text. Capitalization, however, may not be consistent.  Some common abbreviations found in the First Parish Records are:

·         2d Parish = The Congregational Church in North Beverly

·         AE = Age at death

·         B (Old English letter “B”) = Baptized by

·         Ch. or Chh = Church

·         Dec’d = deceased

·         Jun, jun’r, 2d, 3d and 4^th were used in the Church to delineate one of several members of the Church of the same name by their age.  Note that this is different than the way we commonly use them. today- to indicate “consecutive generations within a family with same name”.

·         Vid: = reference (from Latin vide or “see”).  This comment usually is found in adult baptisms where the individual is also being admitted to Full Communion in the Church

Use of raised letters to shorten names and words:  The conventions of Old English script permit the shortening of words by replacing groups of letters with the last letter, raised above the preceding letters.  For example, the word “daughter” can be shortened to “dau^r”.  We preserved these abbreviations in the entries where they occur with the convention of a single apostrophe (dau’r‘).

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