Records, 1725-1802.

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Records, 1725-1802.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/214086136

The Association's first moderator was John Swift and its clerk was Ebenezer Parkman. The bulk of the volume, 1725-1782, was written in Parkman's hand. The records contain the rules and regulations and the signatures of the original and subsequent members. Each meeting was opened with a prayer and a sermon delivered by an appointed member. Parkman then recorded which members were present and absent. The minutes noted the issues being discussed and the judgments of the members. Among the issues were: qualifications of a candidate for the ministry; whether a child of a deceased member should be baptized; regeneration and conversion; and religious revivalism. The members stood in opposition to the Great Awakening of 1740-1742. There are also brief references to discussions of the growing political unrest of the 1770s. The Marlborough Association spent a good deal of time dealing with the right of a parish to dismiss its pastor at will without an ecclesiastical council. The case in point was that of the Rev. Thomas Goss (1716-1780) and his troubles with the people of Bolton, Mass., during the 1770s. There were similar instances noted in the volume concerning difficulties between a minister and his parishioners. Following Parkman's death in 1782, the records are less detailed. There is a reference at the end of the volume to a continuation of the records in a subsequent volume. The original volume was presented to the First Church of Marlborough by its minister, Sylvester Fuller Bucklin (1784-1860),

1 microfilm reel : positive ; 35 mm.1 microfilm reel : negative ; 35 mm.

American Antiquarian Society

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SNAC Resource ID: 7011537

American Antiquarian Society

Related Entities

There are 4 Entities related to this resource.

Marlborough Association of Ministers.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sv4003 (corporateBody)

The Marlborough Association of Ministers was formed in 1725 by a vote of the Framingham (Mass.) Association of Ministers. The original members were Israel Loring (1682-1772) of Sudbury, Ebenezer Parkman (1703-1782) of Westborough, Job Cushing (1694-1760) of Shrewsbury, John Gardner (1695-1775) of Stow, John Prentice (1682-1748) of Lancaster, Robert Breck (1682-1730/31) of Marlborough, and John Swift (1678/79-1745) of Framingham. The Association chose Marlborough as a meeting place due to its cen...

Goss, Thomas, 1716-1780

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rf97mh (person)

Swift, John, 1679-1745

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69p4jhc (person)

Parkman, Ebenezer, 1703-1782

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66m3cn3 (person)

Reverend Ebenezer Parkman was born in 1703 in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of William and Elizabeth (Adams) Parkman. He graduated from Harvard College in 1703 and received his M.A. in 1724. In 1722, he began to preach, and in 1724, he and Jacob Eliot, a graduate of Harvard in 1723, were chosen by the Westborough town meeting as candidates to become the town’s first minister. Parkman was called by the town and ordained on October 28, 1724. He and Mary Champney were married in 1724 and became...