The Reverend Thomas Carter
Erik M. Hanson
Presented to the Woburn Public Library by
the late Leonard Thompson, Esq., in 1895.
ORDINATION OF REV. THOMAS CARTER
Woburn, Massachusetts, 22
November 1642, O.S.
From the Painting by
Albert Thompson
This painting is of great historic interest, since it represents some of the
first settlers of Woburn, Massachusetts. The establishment of the church
preceded the incorporation of the town, as was customary in those days.
Woburn was originally a grant of land made in 1640, by the General Court of
Massachusetts to Charlestown, and was known as "Charlestowne
Village." On 5 November 1640, the Church of Charlestown chose seven
men as Commissioners "for the erection of a Church and Town upon the
recent grant of the Court." On 8 February 1641, the Commissioners
came from Charlestown to find a suitable location. The Meeting House was
built on land now occupied by the Common. The ordination, as illustrated,
followed. On 27 September 1642, O.S., the General Court incorporated
Woburn with these five words: "Charlestowne Village is called
Wooburne."
The characters represented in the painting are as follows: Beginning at
the left (standing) is John Cotton, Minister of the First Church of
Boston; Richard Mather, Minister of the First Church of Dorchester;
John Elliot, Apostle to the Indians from the FIrst Church of Roxbury;
Capt. Edward Johnson, one of the founders of both the church and town of
Woburn; Thomas Carter, one of the lay members of the church; John
Wilson, Minister of the First Church of Charlestown; and finally, a visiting
minister, unnamed. Seated on the bench with his hat beside him is
Increase Nowell, Magistrate from Charlestown. The others are members of
the church.
Biography
The
Reverend Thomas Carter was a much-respected early settler of Massachusetts, and
was ordained as the first pastor of the Congregationalist Church in Woburn,
Massachusetts. The biographical information that follows has been gleaned from
various sources. (Note, this is a ‘work in progress’, the final version will be
available at a date TBA)
According
to H.W. Carter, ('A Genealogy of the Descendents of Thomas Carter'):
'The
birthplace and the parentage of the Rev. Thomas Carter, first minister of
Woburn, Mass., cannot be stated with certainty, but there is no reasonable
doubt that he was a native of Suffolk County, England, and there is ground for
the belief that he was the son of James Carter, yeoman, of Hinderclay, Suffolk
County, who will , dated August, 1625, proved Oct. 1, 1625, is on file at Bury
St. Edmunds. . . .
'.
. .We find that the Rev. Thomas Carter was matriculated a sizar of St. John's
College, Cambridge University, April 1, 1626, at which university he took the degree
of Bachelor of Arts in January, 1629/30, and that of Master of Arts in 1633.'
Among the old records of St. John's College is a list of students 'who secured
scholarships at the university, and is dated Nov. 5, 1628: "Ego Thomas
Carter Suffolciensis admissus sum disciplus huju collegij pro migistro
Spaldinge.' (I Thomas Carter, of Suffolk, am admitted as a student of this
College on the Spalding scholarship).
'The
Spalding scholarship was founded by William Spalding, yeoman, of Tamwarth, in
Suffolk, who gave £60, and stipulated that the scholar was to be chosen from
Bury St. Edmunds Grammar School, an institution founded by King Edward VI in
1550. According to the Bursar of St. John's College [in 1990], Mr. R.F. Scott .
. . the record proves that the holder of the scholarship was not only a
resident of Suffolk at the time, but that he was also a native of the county.
'In
this connection it is interesting to note that the Rev. Thomas Carter was for
several years (1628-1633) a fellow student at Cambridge University with the
Rev. John Harvard, the founder of Harvard College, and that both afterward came
to America and were settled in neighboring communities. It is more than
probable that these young men were well acquainted while at the university. It is
certain that a similarity of tastes and inclinations led them to immigrate to
New England at about the same time, both entering the ministry. Both were made
freemen of the Colony of Massachusetts in the same year, 1637. . . . The next
authentic knowledge of Mr. Carter is the fact of his being admitted a freeman
of Dedham, Mass., March 9, 1636/7 . . . being "presented" by Philemon
Dalton. (Dedham Records.) His residence here, however, was brief, for previous
to the formation of the church in Dedham, 1638, John Allin, afterwards chosen
first minister of Dedham, "moved to ye Pastour of watertowne yet seeing
divers of ther members lived with us & mr. Carter one of them had exercised
some good time there & knew ye people better than I, that therefore it
would please ther church to dismisse mr Carter & such other of ther members
as they judged meete to prepare with us such as should be thought fitt for ye
laying of ye foundation of a church society amongst us, but for some reasons he
did not judge it either needful or according to order to dismisse any but unto
a settled church & so refused ye request." From the above and other
records it would appear that Thomas Carter had "exercised" his
spiritual gifts already in Dedham, and at this time was filling the office of
Elder in the church at Watertown, for the church records of Dedham, a year or
two later, refer to "ye elders of Watertowne in a letter subscribed by mr
Philip pastour; mr Carter mr How elders, testifying yt ye church ther"
gave power to certain of their members residing in Dedham to unite with the
Dedham church. In Watertown, Thomas Carter was granted a homestall of ten acres
and, in 1642, a farm of 92 acres and a lot in the town plot. . . .
'Mr.
Carter preached in Woburn for the first time Dec. 4, 1641, this being the
second service of public worship ever held in the new town, and took for his
text a passage in Gen. xxii, of which sermon the town record says,
"incouraging to trust in the Lord for the Means." This discourse or
his previous reputation seems to have made a favorable impression upon the
people of Woburn, for the Town Records state: 1641, Dec. 19. They now all at Mr
Carter, who was very backward to promise anything, but only to bee helpful to
them at sum tims which was very seldom." . . . .'
The
ordination of Mr. Carter came about as follows:
'
"Aug. 14. A Church gathered at Woburn. Mr. Knowles, (assistant pastor of
Watertown) Mr. Allen, (pastor of Dedham) Mr. Symes, Mr. Carter and divers other
godly and faithful ministers of Christ held out the wright hand of fellowship
in the name of the other Churches." After much persuasion, Mr. Carter
finally yielded a reluctant consent and became the first minister in Woburn,
being ordained November 22, 1642.
In
Winthrop's "History of New England from 1630 to 1649" is given the
following account of the ceremony:--
"The
village at the end of Charlestown bounds, was called Woburn when they gathered
a church, and this day Mr Carter was ordained their pastor with the assistance
of the elders of other Churches; some difference there was about his
ordination; members fit to solemnize such an ordinance, they would desire some
of the elders of the other Churches to have performed it; but others supposing
it might be an occasion of introducing a dependency of Churches, etc., and so a
presbytery, would not allow it, so it was performed by one of their own
members, but not so well or orderly as it ought."
'Capt.
Edward Johnson, one of the principal founders both of the church and the town,
was present on this occasion, and thus describes the manner of the ordination
in his "Wonder Working Providence" (published in 1654):
'After
he (Thomas Carter) had exercised in preaching and prayer the greater part of
the day, two persons in the name of the Church laid their hands upon his head
and said, We ordain thee Thomas Carter to be Pastor of this Church of Christ:
then one of the elders present, desired of the Church, continued in prayer unto
the Lord for his more especial assistance, of this his servant in his work, being
a charge of such weighty importance as is the glory of God and the salvation of
souls, that the very thought would make a man to tremble in the sense of his
own inability to the work."
'At
his ordination, the town presented him with a house, which they built for his
use, and also engaged to give him a salary of £80 annually, one-fourth of which
was to be in silver, the remainder in various necessaries of life, at current
prices. This compensation was increased in 1674 by the grant of twenty cords of
wood annually, to be delivered at his door. From the time of his ordination,
Mr. Carter ministered constantly to his people without aid for thirty-six year,
when the Rev. Jabez Fox was chosen assistant pastor. He continued in the
service with Mr. Fox for six years more until his death in 1684, thus making
the entire period of his ministry at Woburn more than forty-two years.
'As
to the personal characteristics of the Rev. Thomas Carter, Johnson, in his
"Wonder Working Providence," above quoted, speaks of him as a
"reverend Godly Man, apt to teach the sound and wholesome truths of
Christ;" and one who had "much encreased with the encreasings of
Christ Jesus."
'Sewell,
in his History of Woburn, says: "Mr. Carter appears to have lived secluded
in great measure from the world; and hence he is seldom if ever named in
history among the eminent clergymen of his day. Still there is abundant
evidence that he was a very pious, exemplary man, an able and sound preacher of
the gospel, and one whom God honored and prospered in his work. Under his
ministrations, the church was greatly enlarged and built up, and the town
flourished, and was for the most part in peace." By another it is said of
him: During his ministry, which was prolonged more than forty-two years, there
appears to have been the greatest harmony between him and the society". In
the following lines addressed to him in the "Wonder Working
Providence", Mr. Carter is represented as a plain, but faithful and
successful minister; a pastor of distinguished humility and meekness, and in
gentleness toward his flock, as rather exceeding than otherwise:
"Carter,
Christ hath his wayes thee taught, and thou
Hast
not withheld his Word, but unto all
With's
word of power dost cause stout souls to bow,
And
meek as lambs before thy Christ to fall:
The
antient truths, plain paths, they fit thee best,
Thy
humble heart all haughty acts puts by;
The
lowly heart, Christ learns his lovely hest,
Thy
meekness shews thy Christ to thee is nigh.
Yet
must thou shew, Christ makes his bold to be
As
lions, that none may his truths tread down;
Pastoral
power he hath invested thee
With;
it maintain, leest he on thee do frown.
Thy
youth thou has in this New England spent,
Full
sixteen years to water, plant and prune
Trees
taken up, and for that end here sent;
Thy
end's with Christ; with's saints his praises tune." '
Descendants of Thomas (Rev.) Carter to Lois (Peabody) Wilson
1 Thomas (Rev.) Carter 1608 - 1684
.... +Mary Parkhurst 1614 - 1687
......... 2 Timothy
Carter 1653 - 1727
............... +Anna
Fiske 1659 - 1715/16
.................... 3 Martha
Carter 1702 - 1757
.......................... +John
Bruce 1698 - 1764
............................... 4 William
Bruce 1724 - 1803
...................................... +Sarah Wyman 1734 - 1821
........................................... 5 Jerusha Bruce 1766 -
........................................... 5 Kendall Bruce 1767 -
........................................... 5 Lois Bruce 1776 -
............................... *2nd
Wife of William Bruce:
...................................... +Abigail
Kendall 1722 - 1763
........................................... 5 John (Rev.) Bruce[1] 1757 - 1809
................................................. +Lois Wilkins 1760
- 1828
...................................................... 6
Frances Bruce 1799 - 1867
............................................................ +Lewis Franklin Peabody 1798 - 1861
................................................................. 7
Stephen Peabody 1829 - 1909
....................................................................... +Josephine Miller 1835 - 1904
............................................................................ 8
Ralph Merton Peabody 1875 - 1944
................................................................................... +Clara Gertrude Anderson 1878 - 1965
........................................................................................9 Lois Georgianna Peabody 1909 -
......................................................................................... Glenn Alden Wilson 1910 - 1975
...................................................................................................10 Georgia Ann Wilson 1942 -
..............................................................................................….10 Alden Peabody Wilson 1934 -
...................................................................................................10 Nathan Robert Wilson 1940 -
...................................................................................................10 Peary Alan Wilson 1944 -
...................................................................................................10 Joseph Glenn Wilson 1946 -
...................................................................................................10 Andrew David Wilson 1950 -
...................................................................................................10 Mary Lois Wilson 1953 -
Bibliography
Burke, J.B., Burke's American Families with
British Ancestry, Baltimore, 1977
Carter, H.W., A Genealogy of the Descendents of
Thomas Carter, Norfolk, CT., 1909
Johnson, E.F., Woburn Records of Births,
Marriages, Deaths
Locke, J.G., The Book of the Lockes, 1853
Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Land Transactions,
3:479-481
Peabody, S.H., Peabody Genealogy, 1909
Rice, F.P., Vital Records of Marlborough,
Massachusetts
Smith, C.J. History of the Town of Mount Vernon,
New Hampshire, 1967
Vital Records of Woburn, Massachusetts, Boston, 1904
Weis, F.L., Coloniel Clergy of Coloniel Churches
of New England, 1936