the witchcraft trials. In Boston, May 28, 1712, he preached the Election Sermon.* It is said to have been the first preached in the Old South Church, the previous sermons having been preached in the First Church.† The Reverend John Barnard in his autobiography,‡ herein before referred to, says: "The aged and Rev. Mr. Samuel Cheever, pastor of the church in Marblehead, needing assistance, the church and town nominated Mr. Edward Holyoke, (now President,) Mr. Amos Cheever, and myself, to preach to them, upon probation, for three months, alternately." The town was divided between Mr. Barnard and Mr. Holyoke, but it was finally determined in Jan. 1715 to form a new church for Mr. Holyoke and to ordain Mr. Barnard as the colleague of Rev. Samuel Cheever. He continues, "I carried on part of the labors of the Sabbath with my venerable father Cheever, till I was ordained, July 18, 1716. When we returned from the public to his house, the good man broke out, before all the ministers, 'Now, Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace'." In a 66 Sketch of Eminent Ministers in New England,"§ Mr. Barnard says, "The Rev. Mr. Samuel Cheever, graduated in 1659; my predecessor, of great classick learning, a good preacher, a thorough Christain, and a prudent man." He died in Marblehead, May 29, 1724. His colleague preached the funeral sermon,|| from which the following extracts are made: "GOD brought him among you some time in November, 1668, from which Time, those of you that are advanced in Years, know how much he has been a common Father to the whole Town, in the many temporal Advantages which you have received from him; he truly went about doing good, and serving you in all your Interests." "AND he was as constant and assiduous as fervent and zealous a Preacher of the Word of God among you; *so that, if I mistake not, from his first coming among you, until the time that Age had worn him out, you never were, more than once, without the constant Entertainments of your Sabbaths, your stated Feasts, and your New Moons; tho' he was alone for about 48 Years: God so graciously confirmed his Health, that for more than 50 Years, he never was hindred from coming to you in the Name of the Lord by any Sickness. INDEED the infirmities of Age obliged him to take leave of his publick stated Exercises in October 1719, which he did from those Words of our Saviour, John ix. 4. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work. And yet about a Year after this, upon a special Occasion, he entertained us with a short, but plain and fervent Excitement, to be zealous of good Works." "It was a signal and uncommon Favour of God to him, that tho' he lived to the Age of fourscore and almost five, yet he had so settled a Constitution, * "GODS | Sovereign Government | Among the | NATIONS | Asserted in a SERMON | Preached before His Excellency the GOVERNOUR, the Honourable | COUNCIL, and Representatives of the Province of the Massachusetts | Bay in New-England, on May 28. 1712. being the day for Election of Her | Majesties Council for that Province. | By SAMUEL CHEEVER, Pastor of the Church in Marblehead | Psal. xcv. 3.6 [Text in full]. Psal. ii. 12. [Text in full]. | BOSTON: Printed by B. Green: Sold at the | Booksellers Shops. 1712 | ." (Mass. Council Records, v. 57.) At a Council held at the Council Chamber in Boston upon Tuesday June ye. 23rd. 1713," it was advised and consented that there should be paid "To Samuel Gerrish Bookseller Eleven pounds four shillings & eight pence ballance of his accompt for printing Mr. Pembertons Election Sermon, & Five pounds two shillings & ten pence for printing Mr. Cheevers Election Sermon & for making them up." + Drake's Hist. of Boston, 543. Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., 3d series, v. 217-8. Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc., 1st Series, x. 168. "Elijah's Mantle. | A | SERMON | Preached at the | FUNERAL | OF | That aged and faithful Servant of | GOD, | The REVEREND | Mr. Samuel Cheever, | Pastor of a Church of Christ in | Marblehead; | Who deceased, May 29, 1724. | Etatis Suæ, 85. | By John Barnard, A.M. His Colleague Pastor. | Ps. xci. 16. [Text in full] | BOSTON Printed: Sold by S. Gerrish, near the | Brick Meeting-House, in Cornhill. 1724.' and firm a Health, as to be able to say, that he never was Sick in all his Life; a days Indisposition, and some small touches of the Sciatica, he has sometimes known: And as his Health was firm, so at upwards of fourscore, he could read without the help of Spectacles, and had his Hearing quick as Youth, to the last week of his Life; but the Powers of his Mind, for some few Years before he died, failed, especially his Memory, whereby he was greatly unfitted even for common Conversation; and yet his constant Family Prayers were orderly, and regular; so did Grace shine in the decays of Nature." "THUS continued he at Work, and patiently submitting to the Will of God, till a few days ago his Senses wholly left him, and the Night before last he died, and truly died; his Lamp of Life fairly burning out, without being put out; for he felt no Sickness nor Pain to the last, nor shewed any the least tokens of them even in his expiring Moments." In his will, dated March 10, 1721, probated June 4, 1725, he makes various devises and bequests to his wife, his son Ames and his two daughters Ruth Stacey and Sarah Ruck. The other children had probably died before him. His library he gives to his son Ames. He was buried in the old burial ground on the "Burial Hill" in Marblehead, and his gravestone bears this inscription :* Hoc caespite velantur, D. Samuelis Cheever, Ecclesiae A Populo interea Damnum effusè (insigniter repara His widow died 5:4mo 1742, aged 95. Their children were: i. Stacey. ii. iii. Samuel, 66 66 May, 1677. iv. Mary, Sept. 16, 1678. Samuel, 66 66 66 May 1, 1681; d. in Boston, Dec.14, 1707. vii. Anna, b. Marblehead, Feb. 27, 1683-4; bapt. there Aug. 24, 1684; d. Dec. 5, 1700. 3. viii. Ames, b. Marblehead, Oct. 24, 1686; bapt. there Nov. 14, 1686. Sarah, m. in Marblehead, Nov. 10, 1713, Samuel Ruck. *The Latin seems to have perplexed the Marblehead stone-cutters, and they have made sad work of it. 3. AMES (Samuel, Ezekiel'), Rev., born in Marblehead, Oct. 24, 1686, graduated at Amss Chsevere Harvard College 1707. His mother was a granddaughter of the famous and learned 1734 Rev. William Ames, D.D.,* in honor of whom he received his baptismal name. After his failure to be chosen the colleague of his father in Marblehead, he was invited by the town of Manchester, Mass., by a unanimous "His * Dr. William Ames was born in Ipswich, co. Suffolk, England, in the year 1576. parents were persons of good account as to ye world," his father, Mr. William Ames, being a merchant adventurer, and his mother Joane the daughter of Mr. Snelling. His father and mother both died during his minority, but his mother's own brother, Mr. Snelling, who lived in Boxford, took charge of the orphan, brought him up to learning, and sent him to Christ's College, Cambridge. He took the degree of B.A. in 1607, and was a Fellow of the College. After he had taken his degrees in Divinity, he would have been chosen Master of the College, but for his religious opinions. A sermon preached by him at St. Mary's about 1610, gave great offence, and to avoid expulsion he left both the College and the University. He was elected Lecturer to the Corporation of Colchester, Jan. 1609-10, but the Bishop of London would not sanction the appointment. Finding it difficult to obtain any preferment in England, by reason of his non-conformity, he went to Leyden and then to the Hague, where he succeeded Dr. John Burgess as chaplain to Sir Horatio Vere and the English troops. Here he married his first wife, the daughter of his predecessor, but had no children by her. "During the sittings of the Synod of Dort, he received a salary from the States General of Holland to enable him to live in Dort and aid the President of the Synod by his suggestions." When the synod broke up in May, 1619, Dr. Ames was appointed 66 overseer of those students in divinity, who were maintained by some godly merchants of Amsterdam and educated at Leyden for the ministry." It was for their instruction that he wrote his Medulla Theologiæ. He had been obliged to leave the Hague through the influence of Archbishop Abbot, who wrote to the ambassador urging his removal. The same agency prevented his election as Professor at the University of Leyden. But in spite of opposition from the same source, he was appointed in 1622, by the States of Friesland, to a professorship in the University of Franeker. He held this professorship for nearly twelve years, and then removed in 1633 to Rotterdam, to become colleague of the famous Hugh Peters, minister of the English Congregational church there. While contemplating a removal to America, he was attacked by a fever, brought on by exposure during an inundation of the sea at Rotterdam. He died in Rotterdam, Nov. 14, 1633, aged 57 years, and there he was buried. He is described as of middle stature, "of a robust body, of a good and strong constitution." His portrait in the Memorial Hall of Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass., has been recently restored, and bears this inscription: "Reyd: William Ames D.D. ETAIS: AE: 57. 1633." He was twice married. "His second wife was a person of quality, whose name was Fletcher." By her he had three children, two sons and a daughter, who all survived him. Soon after his death his widow and children, who had been " kindly and bountifully relieved by the pious Magistracy of Rotterdam," left Holland and went to Yarmouth, Eng. "May the 11th 1637. The examinaction of Joane Ames of Yarmouth, Wydow, ageed 50 years, with 3 children, Ruth, ageed 18 yeares, William and John; are desirous to passe for new England and there to inhabitt and Remaine." They came to New England in the "Mary Ann" of Yarmouth, William Goose, master. On the 15th day of 9th mo. 1637, the General Court of Massachusetts " gave 401 to Mrs Ames, the widow of Doctor Ames, of famos memory, who is deceased." She had also a grant of land in Salem in that year. They lived first in Salem, but soon removed to Cambridge, Mass., where the mother died and was buried 23d 10 mo. 1644. William, the son, graduated at Harvard College in 1645, but soon returned to England, and became the colleague of the Rev. John Phillip, the Rector of Wrentham, co. Suffolk, who had married in Wrentham, Jan. 6, 1611-12, Elizabeth Ames, his father's sister. For many years he preached part of the day at Frostenden. He was ejected for non-conformity in 1662, died July 21, 1689, and was buried in Wrentham churchyard, where his gravestone is still to be seen. He had been twice married. Two children by his second wife died young, and one daughter by his first wife alone survived him. John, the other son, seems to have returned to England also, and is probably the Mr. John Ames who lies buried in Wrentham church on the south side of the chancel. Ruth, the daughter, married Edmund Angier, of Cambridge, Mass., and had children, of whom Ruth Angier, born in Cambridge 28th 7th, 1647, married June 28, 1671, the Rev. Samuel Cheever of Marblehead, as has been before stated. [Authorities.--John Browne's Congregational Church at Wrentham, in Suffolk: London, Jarrold & Sons, 1854, p. 8. John Browne's Hist. of Congregationalism in Norfolk and Suffolk: London, Jarrold & Sons, 1877, p. 66-71. Sibley's Harvard Graduates, i. 107. Drake's Founders of New England, 49. Mass. Colonial Rec. i. 208. Felt's Annals of Salem, i. 172. Boston Births, Deaths and Marriages, i. 60, 74 (pp. 164, 203 of Transcript). REGISTER, xiii. 78. Paige's Hist. of Cambridge, Mass. 479, 481. See also REGISTER, viii. 245; xxxiii. 124.] vote, at a town meeting* held March 12, 1715-6, to become the minister there. This offer he accepted in the following letter. "I declare my acceptance of Manchester's offers in order to Settlement covenanting wh. ym to do so & accept ordination as soon as may be, whilst yy are labouring to accomplish wt. I proposed & yy accepted feb: 16 last past And now promise to live wth. ym. in ye labours of ye Gosple, while y': continue in its faith & order, yeilding to me all ye. Honours yt. ye. Gosple Demands for ye. Ambassadors of y. Glorious Lord Brethren Pray for Me: Amen Oct: 4: 1716: Ames Cheever." He was ordained Nov. 1716, as the first settled minister of Manchester. Differences, however, arose between him and his people, aggravated probably by the continual depreciation of the paper money in which his salary was paid. From 1736 to 1743, the town made him constantly increasing appropriations " to make up for the Sinking of our Province Bills."‡ To a committee appointed by the town, he presented March 16, 1743, a lists of grievances, eight in number, complaining that the town had not kept its agreement with him. These troubles culminated in his asking a dismission from his pastoral office, which was granted Feb. 21, 1743-4, it having received the assent of a council|| called to advise in the matter. He died in Manchester, Jan. 15, 1756, and letters of administration on his estate were issued Feb. 16, 1756, to Isaac Mansfield, Jr.,¶ Esq., of Marblehead, who had married his daughter Ruth. His estate was appraised at £1583:10: 31, and among the articles in the inventory were the following: 1 negro woman Call'd Violet,** 26:13:4. A parcel Books,†† 5: 6:8. 2:10:8. 32: 7:23. 3:17: 0. 2:10:0. 0: 6:0. 66:13:4. Mansion house and land in Manchester and Marblehead, 508: 19: 0. * Town Records, iii. 201 (46). Town Records, iv. 2, 4, 6, 9, 12, 14, 18, 20. + Ibid. iii. 206 (50). This list is attached to fly-leaf of Book iv. Manchester Records. The reply drawn up by a committee appointed by the town is on file in the town clerk's office. | Church Records, ii. 3. One of the consequences of this appointment was that many valuable books and papers passed into the possession of the Mansfield family. The church records of Wenham, kept by Rev. Joseph Gerrish, in this way disappeared and were for many years supposed to be lost. They were found and restored in 1809. "On a blank leaf is the following, in the handwriting of Rev. Mr. Anderson: Marblehead, Sept. 4, 1809. This day this book was received from the hand of Rev. Isaac Mansfield of this town, who is grandson of the Rev. Mr. Cheever, formerly of Manchester, and great-grandson of Rev. Joseph Gerrish, formerly of Wenham, by Rufus Anderson." " See sermon delivered on the Second Centennial Anniversary of the organization of the First Church in Wenham, by Daniel Mansfield, Pastor, Andover, 1845. The first book of the church records of Manchester was not recovered until about forty years ago. **The administrator in his account, allowed Oct. 10, 1757, charges himself with "Loss of Negro Titus (died)"; and in an additional account filed Nov. 6, 1759, charges himself with loss on sale of "Negro Violet," less than the appraised value, £13: 18: 4. Among the deaths in the church records is the following entry: " Feb. 2, 1772, mrs Cheevers Violet 44 or 6 yrs." Cæsar Conaway, of Ipswich, "a Negro man and Dina Cheever of Manchester a Negro woman," were intending marriage in Manchester, Nov. 11, 1804. ++ What the worthy appraisers concisely term "a parcel Books," was in fact a large and valuable library, the accumulation of several generations of scholars, which upon the death of the Rev. Ames Cheever was broken up. The books, being distributed among his heirs at law, fell, unhappily, in many cases, into careless and indifferent hands. A few of these books much mutilated have come into the possession of the writer of this paper. He was buried in the old burial ground in Manchester. No gravestone marks the spot, but the following epitaph is found in Alden's Epitaphs: "Hoc decus exiguum sacrum memoriæ reverendi AMESII CHEEVER, qui cursu peracto aetatis suae 69, 15 Januarii, anno Domini, 1756, terrena pro coelestibus reliquit." He m. (1) (published in Wenham, Sept. 9, 1716) Anna, dau. of the Rev. Joseph Gerrish* of Wenham. She d. in Manchester, Mass., Feb. 14, 1726-7. Their children were: i. SAMUEL, b. in Manchester, Aug. 29; bapt. Sept. 1, and d. Sept. 16, 1717. ii. RUTH, bapt. in Manchester, July 5, 1719; m. (published Sept. 9, 1744) Isaac Mansfield, Jr. Esq., of Marblehead. iii. JOSEPH, bapt. in Manchester, Dec. 11, 1720. iv. ANNA, bapt. in Manchester, April 8, 1722. V. AMES, b. in Manchester, June 24, 1723; bapt. June 30, 1723; died there March 4, 1802. vi. ANNA, b. in Manchester, Jan. 26, 1726-7; bapt. Jan. 29, 1727; d. there Feb. 2, 1726-7. He m. (2) in Boston, Nov. 6, 1733, Mary Saunders of Boston. She d. in Manchester, Mass., Feb. 3, 1734-5. They had one child: vii. JOSIAH, b. in Manchester, Jan. 24, 1734-5; bapt. Feb. 2, 1734–5; d. deranged in the alms-house in Gloucester, Jan. 31, 1806. He m. (3) in Ipswich, April 5, 1736, Sarah Choates of Ipswich. Their children were: viii. THOMAS, bapt. in Manchester, Jan. 16, 1737; d. there Dec. 27, 1781, aged 45 years. 4. ix. JOHN, b. in Manchester, Aug. 7, bapt. Aug. 12, 1739. 5. X. EZEKIEL, bapt. in Manchester, March 29, 1741. xi. SAMUEL, bapt. in Manchester, Nov. 4, 1744. xii. SARAH. Her intentions of marriage with Joseph Knight, Jr., were published in Manchester Nov. 27, 1773. They were never married, and she died in Manchester, July 22, 1774, aged 27 or 28 years. He m. (4) (published April 28, 1753) Sarah DavisT of Gloucester, who survived him, and d. a widow, in Manchester, Oct. 27, 1807, aged 80 years. His children by his fourth wife, both born in Manchester, were: xiii. MARY SAUNDERS, b. March 1, 1754; bapt. Oct. 3, 1756; d. unm. before 1785. 6. xiv. SAMUEL, b. March 12, 1756; bapt. Oct. 3, 1756. 3 4. JOHN (Ames, Samuel," Ezekiel1), yeoman; born in Manchester, Mass., Aug. 7, 1739. In the expedition against Crown Point and Ticonderoga in 1758, he was a private soldier in Capt. Andrew Gidding's company of foot** in a regiment of provincial troops, of which Jonathan Bagley, * Hist. Coll. Essex Inst. v. 28. +He taught school in Manchester and Salem, and preached occasionally, and hence was sometimes called Rev. Ames Cheever. Nathan Cheever, who taught school in Manchester in 1743, as appears by the selectmen's Account Book under date of June 30 and Sept. 14 of that year, was a son of Nathan and Hannah (Brooks) Cheever, and grandson of Rev. Thomas Cheever. He was born in that part of Boston which is now Chelsea, Jan. 15, 1722, and was living in 1777, but at the time of the division of his father's real estate in 1788, was already deceased, having left a widow Elizabeth and five children. See Middlesex and Suffolk Probate Records. Babson's Hist. of Gloucester, 329. REGISTER, XV. 293. · At a town meeting held in Manchester, Sept. 11, 1780, it was " Voted that ye Selectmen & Commett should Meet togeather & make up an Accoumpt what Thomas Cheever should have out of ye Mony that that the Town Gave Him as a solder for six months Service and Did Not Tarry and The Remainder if he Refusess to Pay back to Sue him Emediatly By The Treasurer." (Town Records, iv. 182.) Babson's Hist. of Gloucester, 77. ** Muster Rolls, xevi. 511. |