Charles Francis Adams
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS 1809-1886
PUBLICIST - LEGISLATOR - DIPLOMAT - INSISTENT FOR FREEDOM
Minister to Great Britain in years of great stress 1861-1868
he maintained the Northern Cause with wisdom and a bold dignity that won British respect
HE IS CREDITED WITH PREVENTING BRITISH RECOGNITION OF THE CONFEDERACY THUS CONTRIBUTING TO THE VICTORY OF THE UNION
He represented his country in the Geneva Arbitration and in the Alabama Claims
Publisher of many political pamphlets and addresses
Editor of the writings of his grandfather, John Adams, and his father John Quincy Adams
Charles Francis married Abigail Brown Brooks in 1829. The Adams children - all baptized in the Church - were Louisa Catherine, John Quincy II, Charles Francis Jr, Henry Brooks, Arthur, Mary Gardiner & Peter Chardon Brooks Adams.
He held elected office in Massachusetts & the U S Congress, but was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President.
His appointment as Ambassador to the Court of St. James was made by President Abraham Lincoln. He held this position during and after the period of the American Civil War. His son, Henry Adams, acted as his private secretary. On his return to Boston, he declined the presidency of Harvard University, but built the first presidential library [the first of this nature] to honor his father, John Quincy Adams.
John Forrester Andrew
INTEGER VITAE
JOHN FORRESTER ANDREW
Born in Hingham 26 November 1850 Died in Boston 30 May 1895
Graduated from Harvard College 1872
A LOVER OF CHILDREN
A FRIEND of THE OPPRESSED
A WORTHY SON of AN ILLUSTRIOUS FATHER
SCELERISQUE PURUS
Admitted to the Massachusetts Bar, he found a more congenial field of labor in Public Service
Member of the State and National Legislatures and President of many Charitable Institutions
Devoted to the Common Weal - Wise and Winning Fearless and Independent
Trusted by all for his Integrity of Character
George Bancroft
George Bancroft
Worshipper in the First Church in Boston
SCHOLAR - STATESMAN - HISTORIAN
Dedicated in Youth to the Christian Ministry
Devoted in Manhood and Old Age to the Varied Service of his Countrymen
The best government rests on the people and not on the few
on persons and not on property, on the free development of
public opinion and not on authority
1800 - 1891
Richard Bellingham
Born in Lincolnshire, England about 1590
Richard Bellingham
Died in Boston, Massachusetts 7 December 1672. An Uncompromising Puritan.
A member of the Company to which was granted the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
He migrated to New England 1634 and served the Colony as Treasurer.
Deputy Governor and Governor. Learned in the Laws of England.
Slow of speech, difficult of temper.
Winning favor by Incorruptible Devotion to the Common Welfare & Consistent Hostility to Autocracy.
He lived honorably and died Honored. A true New England Man.
Henry Whitney Bellows
HENRY WHITNEY BELLOWS
11 June 1814 30 January 1882
Christened in the First Church 13 August 1814
For Forty-three years Minister of All Souls Church New York
An eloquent and Inspiring Preacher of the Truth that makes Men free
A PASSIONATE PATRIOT
Gifted alike in Imaginative Fervor and in executive Force
CREATOR AND PRESIDENT OF THE SANITARY COMMISSION 1861 - 1878
COMMENDING TO THE ENTIRE CONTINENT ITS BENEFICENT WORK
Anne Bradstreet
Anne Bradstreet 1612 - 1672
Faithful daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley
Devoted wife to Governor Simon Bradstreet
Ancestress of many illustrious Americans.
"Mirror of her Age, Glory of her Sex." John Norton
Gentlewoman, Scholar, Publicist, Poet
With her, all American Poesy begins.
"Joined to the Church at Boston 1630."
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet
one of the Historic Founders of Massachusetts Bay Colony
"The Nestor of New England."
Governor of the Colony 1679 to 1686
and on the Downfall of Andros again 1689 to 1692.
President of the United Colonies 1653 and again in 1663 and 1664.
He held many offices of Responsibility & Trust
and was the Seventh to sign the Covenant of the First Church
Born at Horbling, England March 1603. Died at Salem, Mass March 27 1697
Charles Chauncy
Charles Chauncy
CHARLES CHAUNCY
Bom in Boston, January 1704
Great Grandson of Charles Chauncy
President of Harvard College
Graduated at Harvard College 1721
Minister of this Church 1727-1787
Doctor of Divinity 1742 University of Edinburgh
Died in Boston 10 February 1787
A Founder of the American Academy of
Arts and Sciences
Defender of Liberal Congregationalism
Writer of learned and influential Treatises
Rational Dispassionate Intrepid
Scornful of Extravagance and Pretense
Champion of Integrity and Independence
He guided his Generation to
Political and Religious
Freedom
Elisha Cooke
1637-1715
Elisha Cooke
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
JUSTICE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE
EXECUTIVE COUNCILOR
A Leader in the overthrow of Sir Edmond Andros
To his fellow citizens he was
PHYSICIAN COUNSELOR FRIEND
A disinterested Antagonist of the Royal Prerogative
A farsighted Champion of the Commonweal.
John Cotton
JOHN COTTON
Born in Derbyshire England December 1585.
He died in the Colony of Massachusetts Bay 23 December 1652.
Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.
Vicar of the Church of Saint Botolph, Boston, Lincolnshire, 1612 - 1633.
Regardless of Preferment & Conspicious as a Puritan DIvine,
He became the object of a Prelatical Persecution."Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain."
He then sought refuge in New England. Ordained immediately on his arrival,
he ministered to his death as 'Teacher of the Boston Church, 1622-1652.
Scholar, Theologian, Preacher, Publicist, He gave form & inspiration to the Ecclesiastical Policy known as "The New England Way." Preceptor and friend of Vane. From him Cromwell sought counsel. Living, he was revered as "That Apostle of his Age."Dead, he is remembered as "Patriarch of the Massachusetts Theocracy."
Thomas Dudley
THOMAS DUDLEY
For seventeen years Governor or Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
As Governor he signed the Charter of Harvard College.
"A man of approved wisdom and of much good service to the state"
"A gentleman whose natural and acquired moral qualities, entitled him to all the great respects
with which his country on all opportunities treated him." COTTON Mather
Born in England 1576 Died in Roxbury 1653
Rufus Ellis
Rufus Ellis D. D
SEVENTEENTH MINISTER
OF THIS CHURCH - 1853 - 1885
Born in Boston - Sept - 14 - 1819
Graduated at Harvard College - 1838
Died at Liverpool - Eng - Sept 23 - 1885
DURING HIS MINISTRY THE SOCIETY
REMOVED TO THIS SITE
He was Eminent as a Scholar
but his supreme Devotion
was given to his Sacred Office
to the Welfare of the Church
and to Engaging its Members
in Works of Christian Charity
in this he won
their Sympathy and Cooperation
His Wisdom Purity and Virtues
secured their Love & Trust
Ralph Waldo Emerson
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
A Reverent Interpreter of
Nature Man and God
Born in Boston 25 May 1803
Dled ln Concord 27 April 1882
Teacher and Preachcr
Poet and Prophet
He taught the worth ot Manners
Self-reliance and Character
of Beauty and Duty
of Education Family Lite
and Public Liberty
He read in Nature Eternal Law
and bade Men listen to the
Immanent Spirit
William Emerson
WILLIAM EMERSON
Pastor and Historian
of this Church
Born in Concord 6 May 1769
Died in Boston 12 May 1811
Humane and Gracious
Liberal in thought
Fruitful in accomplishment
and influence
Founder of the Anthology Club
which established
The Boston Athenaeum
Fidem Servabo
Thomas Foxcroft
THOMAS FOXCROFT
Born in Boston 26 February 1696
Son of Colonel Francis Foxcroft
Warden of King's Chapel
Graduated at Harvard College 1714
Minister of this Church 1717-1769
Died in Boston 18 June 1769
A Forceful Preacher
Diligent Student and Labourer
Of Ardent and Imaginative Temper
Humble and Self-exacting
Steadfast Apostle of the New Light
He served this Church through Critical Years
with Courage and Devotion
defending her Congregational Polity
enlarging her Spiritual Influence
leaving with her an Example of
Charity Honour and Fidelity
Benjamin Apthorp Gould
BENIAMIN APTHORP GOULD
1824-1896
HARVARD BACHELOR OF ARTS 1844
GOTTINGEN DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 1848
A SCHOLAR OF DIVERSE LEARNING
FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY
MEMBER OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
KNIGHT OF THE ORDER FOR MERIT
UNTIRING IN THE LABOR THAT NUMBERED
THE STARS OF THE
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
ARDENT OF HEART AS OF MIND
"Thine was unstinted zeal unchilled devotion
While the blue realm had Kingdoms to explore
Patience like his who ploughed the unfurrowed ocean
Till o'er its margin loomed San Salvador"
This Tablet is placed here
in Honor of
ANNE HUTCHINSON
Born in Lincolnshire England about 1592.
Received into the Membership
of this Church 1634.
Banished from Massachusetts
by Decree of Court 1637.
Killed by the Indians at Pelham, N.Y. 1643.
A "Breeder of Heresies."
"Of ready Wit and bold Spirit."
She was a persuasive Advocate of the
Right of independent Judgment
Anne (Marbury) Hutchinson was born in Alford, Lincolnshire in 1591.
Her father, Rev Francis Marbury [1555-1611] had studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge. While extremely intelligent, he was contentious about the political appointments & poor quality of ministers’ education. He was imprisoned over this issue. Ordained a priest in 1605 Marbury was, in succession, Rector of St. Martin’s Vintry, St. Pancras & St. Margaret’s in London. There, he received harsh treatment from Bishop John Aylmer and was dismissed from London.
Anne married William Hutchinson, London merchant, in 1612. They sailed to Boston in 1634 with their children on the ship Griffin. After her trial for banishment and excommunication, 23 men of the Boston Church drew up the Portsmouth Compact which secured the rights for a new colony and church in Rhode Island.
PORTSMOUTH COMPACT [& Church Covenant - 1638]
“We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly - in the presence of Jehovah - incorporate ourselves into a
bodie politick and, as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates... to all those perfect and most
absolute lawes...to be guided and judged thereby.”
Scripture citations:
Exodus 24: 3-4 Moses told the people all the Lord’s words and laws. They responded with one voice,
“Everything the Lord has said we will do.” Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said.
II Chronicles 11:3 Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all Israel.
II Kings 11:17 Jehoida then made a covenant between the king and people that they would be the Lord’s people.
Plaque commemorating the Portsmouth Compact
Portsmouth was settled in 1638 by a group of religious dissenters from the First Church in Boston Erected to honor the memory and perpetuate the spirit and ideals of the founders of the first government in the world to allow and to insure to its citizens civil and religious liberty. Established on this site in the year 1638.
A ‘Tablet’ to Anne of Sienna marble was erected in the South transept of the 1868 Church by her descendants in 1904 . The words were transferred in 1955 to a pen & ink calligraphic design by Margaret Shepherd.
Like her father, but essentially a ‘lay minister,’ Anne was “Of ready Wit and bold Spirit.”
She was a persuasive Advocate of the Right of independent Judgment.
Isaac Johnson
ISAAC JOHNSON
A man of fidelity and promise
Whose early death in 1630
Following hard upon that uf his wife
THE LADY ARBELLA
Sister to
The Earl of Lincoln
Cast deep gloom upon the colony
"This Gentleman was a prime man
Amongst us, having the best Estate
Of any, zealous for Religion, and the
Greatest furthercr of this Plantation"
"He was a holy man and wise, and died
in sweet peace, leaving some part of his
substance to the colony" JOHN WINTHROP
Valeria Addams Knapp
John Leverett
JOHN LEVERETT
1616-1679
Arrived at Boston
September 4th 1633
Joined the First Church
July 14th, 1639
Captain in Cromwell’s Service 1656
Major General of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
1663-1673
Governor or the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
1673-1678
John Leverett
JOHN LEVtRETT
President of Harvard College 1707-1724
and the first Lay President
Born in Boston 25 August 1662
Died in Cambridge 3 May 1724
Graduated at Harvard College 1680
Twelve years Tutor in the College
and Sixteen years Fellow
Speaker of the House
Executive Councillor
Judge of Probate
Judge of the
Superiour Court of the Judicature
Fellow of the Royal Society London
A righteous faithful man of catholic spirit
who in a time of acrid religious controversy
firmly held Harvard College
Independent and Free
Thomas Leverett
THOMAS LEVERETT
Ruling Elder in this Church 1633-1650
Loyal Friend of John Cotton
His Parishioner in St. Botolph's Church
His Defender when persecution threatened
His Fellow-voyager to Boston New England
1633
Alderman and Town Officer
In Old Boston 1620-1633
and in his new Home
Selectman and Town Clerk
A Founder of the Free School
Colleague of Henry Vane and Thomas Oliver
on the first Board of Arbitration
in New England
1635
Died in Boston 3 April 1650
Massachusetts Bay Colony
John Norton
JOHN NORTON
Born in Bishop Stortford Hertfordshire
Educated at Petcrhoiise Cambridge
Curate at Bishop Stortford
Domestic Chaplain to Sir William Masham
A Rigid Puritan
He came to New England at the Call of the
Plymouth Plantation
Teacher of the Ipswich Church
Overseer of Harvard College
Envoy to England
Teacher of this Church
1656-1663
Faithful Servant of the Colony
in Church and State
Scholarly and Self-disciplined
Insistent for Peace and Order and
Holiness of Living
1606-1663
Charles Park
William Hickling Prescott
Josiah Quincy, Jr
In Memory of
JOSIAH QUINCY, JUNIOR
Patriot
1744-1775
With Equal Fervor he urged
Resistance to Royal Oppression
and argued for
Justice to the British Officer
at whose word of command
the "Boston Massacre" took place
Bearing unwritten messages of
grave import to the patriotic party
as whose agent he visited England
he died with incalculable loss
to his beloved country
as the ship on which he was returning
entered Gloucester harbor
A Flame of Freedom
too soon extinguished
Elliot Lee Richardson
Henry Vane
Sir HENRY VANE
The younger
Knt. of Raby Castle
in the County ot Durham England
Sometime Member of this Church
Born 1613
Beheaded on Tower Hill June 14 1662
He came to this colony
And was choscn Governor 1636
Upon his return to England in 1637
He became conspicuous in the Public Service
A Member of the Long Parliament
Associated with Cromwell Pym and Hampden
He was a Foe to cvery Tyranny and
A lifelong Champion of the Rights of Man
Young in years but in sage counsel old
This Tablet is erected in his Honour by
The Rt. Hon.. Henry De Vere Vane
Lord Barnard of Raby Castle 1904
Mary Ann Wales
Gloria Tibi Domine
In grateful memory
of
MARY ANNE WALES
Born 1834 . Died 1893
Ready to every good work
in the service of God and
for the help of man.
A loyal member of this
church she devoted herself
and her substance to
its maintenance
The servant of Christ
doing the will of God
from the heart.
Rhys Williams
John Winthrop
JOHN WINTHROP
For many years Governor
Of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Charter of which he brought over
In 1630
A Puritan Leader
Moderate and Magnanimous
Who made Religious Obligation
The spirit of his daily life
And spent his strength and substance
In the cause of New England
A gentleman of that wisdom and virtue
and those manifold accomplishments
that after ~ generations must reckon
him no less a glory than he was a
PATRIOT OF THE COUNTRY
Born 1587 England Died 1649 Boston
Winthrop Sermon
©Margaret Shepherd 2011
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