ISRAEL DEWEY'S BELIEF.

195

his disorderly behaviour in the time of preaching, in the meeting-house lately," and Jonathan Willard, Jonathan Nash, and William Ingersoll were desired to confer with him. Mr. Dewey, having been summoned by these gentlemen "appeared to confer with the brethren on the 13th of April" about his conduct that had been offensive, and, as he was competent to do, defended himself and his doctrinal belief. But the discussion only added to the previous cause of grievance, and the hearing was consequently adjourned for a week.

sure;

April 20th, the record continues, "Israel Dewey also appeared, and upon his making his submission to the Church, and confession of his conviction that he was out of the way in his conduct, at which exception was taken, and promising to reform, it was voted that the Church would pass it by without a public cenbut whereas he has declared before the brethren of the Church, that it was an article in his belief that it was not upon the whole best that sin should take place in the world, and had in unjustifiable ways op posed the Doctrines of God's decrees, the Church voted to defer this to further Consideration." A little later, "upon further Conference with said Dewey," it was determined "to let him pass without a public censure, but only to admonish him before all the brethren, to be more modest and earnestly seek further light, as we look upon him ignorant and much out of the way." Mr. Dewey-who had been previously engaged in a written discussion of doctrines with the minister-ac cepted the admonition, but with views unchanged as to the benificent usefulness of sin.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCHTHE ERECTION OF THE CHURCH-REV.

GIDEON BOSTWICK.

1760-1793.

In the discordant state of religious affairs of the parish and town, depicted in the preceding chapter, the Episcopal church of Great Barrington had its origin. Unfortunately, no record of the organization of this church is preserved here. The printed and commonly accepted account of its formation is that it was instituted by the Rev. Solomon Palmer, then a missionary of New Milford and Litchfield, about the year 1760. This statement, so far as we can learn, appears to be based upon tradition rather than upon records. It is not improbable that the Rev. Mr. Palmer visited Great Barrington in 1760 and 1761, performed the ceremony of baptism and held religious services here in those years. But the date of the formation of the church as well as the statement that it was organized by Mr. Palmer seems to us to need confirmation. It is said that the Dutch-Lutherans-and a few Episcopalians together with some not originally of either of these denominations united in forming this church.

By the regulations of Mr. Hopkins' church the rite of baptism was accorded only to the children of converted parents. It is related by Prof. Park that "many unconverted parents, particularly among the Dutch, insisted on having their children baptised; and when the number of unchristened children amounted to sixty or thereabouts, an Episcopal Clergyman was

FORMATION OF THE CHURCH.

197

invited to administer the rite." The date of this occurrence is not given, but it is supposed to have been about the year 1760, and this was, perhaps, the occasion of the first official visit of the missionary of the Church of England to this town. Neither are we informed as to the name of the clergyman by whom the baptismal ceremony was performed; but that the Rev. Solomon Palmer officiated is highly probable, as he was then located in Litchfield county, Connecticut, and was the nearest resident Episcopal clergyman, From the best information which we have been able to obtain, and in the absence of any proof to the contrary, we are of the opinion that both the date of the formation of this church-"about 1760"-and the statement that it was organized by Mr. Palmer are erroneous. To the Rev. Thomas Davies, who, succeeding Mr. Palmer, was in September, 1761, appointed missionary to the churches of New Milford, Roxbury, Sharon, New Preston and New Fairfield, in Connecticut, we believe belongs the honor of having organized the Episcopal Church in Great Barrington. In support of this belief we have the following certificate from the pen of Mr. Davies as well as his letters, quoted beyond, which distinctly state that he "united the people as a church."

"This may certify all whom it concerns, that on the 21st Sept. 1762 Robert Noble, Jonathan Reed, David Ingersoll, Sam'l Breck, Stephen King, John Westover, Jacob Burgott, Warham Williams, John Williams, John Williams Ju'r, Ebenezer Hamlin, David Clark, Jos'h Robie, Jon'a Hill, Daniel Bayley, Josiah Loomis and Josiah Loomis Jur., Put themselves under my care as a minister of the Church of England, and accordingly by mutual consent were formed into an assembly or body of People, to be denominated hereafter members of the Church of England, and moreover according to the Rules and Canons of s'd Church of England, and by authority divested in me I chose John Westover Clerk, and we mutually chose Robert Noble and Jonathan Reed Church Wardens. And therefore the above mentioned Persons, with all such Person or Persons as shall hereafter join with them are reputed to be and by the Canons of said Church of England, are esteemed members of said Church of England, and are exempted from Pay any Rates or taxes to Dissenters on any eclesiastical account whatsoever. New Milford in Connecticut Feb. 15, 1763.

THOMAS DAVIES, Missionary for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts."

This certificate was apparently issued by Mr. Davies for the purpose of exonerating the persons named therein, with such as might "join with them," from the payment of taxes for the support of a dissenting minister, and, in the absence of other records, is of historical interest, inasmuch as it establishes the date of the formation of the church-September 21, 1762—the fact that Mr. Davies officiated on that occasion, and also hands down to us the names of the seventeen original members-united into a church-which are, perhaps, not elsewhere preserved.

The original of this certificate still exists in the files of the county court-formerly at Great Barrington, now at Pittsfield-where it found lodgement at a time when religious intolerance was more in favor than now, and when attendance upon Sunday worship was, by the law of the land, compulsory---for in those days some were imprisoned, even in the Great Barrington jail, for non-performance of their Sabbath-day duties. The copy of the certificate quoted is kindly furnished by Henry W. Taft, Esq., clerk of the county courts.

"A biographical sketch of the Rev'd Thomas Davies," published at New Haven in 1843, affords further light upon the early history of the Episcopal Church, and confirms the statement that the church was organized by Mr. Davies. From a letter of Mr. Davies', dated December 28, 1762, and quoted in the sketch of his life, it appears that he preached sometime in September, 1762, "to a large concourse of people at Barrington, sixty miles from his place of residence [New Milford] where there were no less than forty sober and reputable families of the Church of England, and upon that occasion he baptised some children and chose a Clerk, a very regular and pious man, to read prayers to the people." In another letter, of a later date, addressed to the Society for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts, Mr. Davies writes-"If the honorable society desire, I would transmit an exact detail of the proceedings in that town [Great Barrington] since I united the people as a church,' &c. Here we have the explicit statement of Mr. Davies-confirmatory of the certificate quoted-that he "united the people as a

MISSION OF REV. THOMAS DAVIES.

199 church," and there can be no reason to doubt its truthfulness. Our conclusion is that Mr. Davies did organize the church, and at the time stated, September 21st, 1762; though we are of the belief that the Rev. Solomon Palmer had at an earlier date held religious service and performed the baptismal ceremony in this place.

Mr. Davies visited Great Barrington on the 21st of October, 1764, when he administered the sacrament to eighteen communicants, and on the next day baptized two adults and three children; and again on the 25th of December of the same year, on which occasion he opened the church edifice-then recently erectedwith appropriate services, administered the sacrament to fourteen communicants and baptized four children.

In his letters to the parent society, Mr. Davies complains of the ill-treatment which the professors of the Church of England received at the hands of the dissenters in Great Barrington. The following extracts from these letters will serve to illustrate the state of feeling which existed here at that time, and are in other respects of interest in connection with the history of the church. In one of these letters Mr. Davies says, "just before I wrote in June, 1763, they did imprison for fifteen days, two persons of as good character as any in the town; the one educated in the church, the other a Lutheran, for no other reason but because they did not go to meeting. As to their rates or ministerial tax which amounts to about £20 sterling per annum, that they are obliged to pay without any hesitation, to support the dissenting teacher, although he, in almost all his sermons, casts the bitterest invectives against the Church of England as a church." In December, 1764, he writes, "I have visited Great Barrington and the parts adjacent, in October last, and shall, if God permit, set out directly for that place, in order to open a very elegant and large church, which those people have erected at great expense, and whilst laboring under the severest ill treatment from their brethren, the dissenters. If the honorable society desire, I would transmit an exact detail of proceedings in that town since I united the people as a Church, together with a copy of my sermon which I shall preach at the