The 17th Century

1622: The first settlers arrived at Wessagusset in September, under the leadership of Thomas Weston. A fort was built at Hunt’s Hill off of King’s Cove.

1623: Escalating tensions with the local Massachusett tribe resulted in the massacre at Wessagusset on March 27 [O.S.], led by Capt. Miles Standish of Plymouth. After the brutal slaughter, the colony was abandoned. A second colony was established at Wessagusset that September by Capt. Robert Gorges. Revs. William Morrell and William Blaxton were brought along, the former being commissioned to oversee the establishment of the Anglican Church in New England. The enterprise was disbanded by the spring of 1624 due to financial hardship; Rev. Morrell fled to Plymouth, before later returning to England and publishing a poem based on his experiences in New England, while Rev. Blaxton became the first English settler in Boston and in Rhode Island. Several settlers remained in Wessagusset and continued to meet for worship under the non-conformist Rev. Barnard, meaning the church has been meeting continuously since its gathering in 1623. A meetinghouse was probably erected somewhere in North Weymouth or Old Spain, but its location is unknown.

1635: The Rev. Joseph Hull arrives in Wessagusset with over 100 emigrants. The settlement is incorporated as a plantation (i.e. a town) in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and is renamed Weymouth after the port of Hull’s departure in England. A second meetinghouse was erected sometime in the 1630s on Burying Hill (today the Old North Cemetery, near North Street), replacing the earlier and still-undiscovered location.

1636: Unhappy with the Anglican background of Rev. Hull, some of the Puritans who had settled in Weymouth prior to his arrival called upon the Rev. Thomas Jenner to settle as their minister.

1637: The Rev. Robert Lenthal was invited by some of his former parishioners to come to Weymouth and settle as their minister. He was unliked by the colonial government, forbidden ordination, and suspected to be an Antinomian, for which he was tried at Dorchester in 1639 and admonished.

1638: A council met at Weymouth to pray for reconciliation between Rev. Jenner and the people. Tensions cooled after this, but only temporarily.

1639: Rev. Samuel Newman was called upon to minister in Weymouth and bring peace to the church. At this point, four ministers were actively ministering in Weymouth, and the town was still sorely divided over theological differences regarding polity, grace, and possibly baptism. Rev. Hull preached his farewell sermon on May 5 [O.S.], after which he relocated to Barnstable.

1640: Rev. Jenner retired to Saco, Maine, and Rev. Lenthal relocated to Newport, Rhode Island to teach school, leaving Rev. Newman as the sole pastor of the church. Tensions remained in the church.

1644-5: Seeking more open land, and perhaps less church trouble, Rev. Newman led a portion of Weymouth’s residents to establish the town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He was succeeded in Weymouth by the Rev. Thomas Thacher, who was ordained on January 2, 1644/5 (the first minister ordained in Weymouth). The previous tensions in the church were resolved by his coming. Rev. Thacher was widely respected throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A biography of Rev. Thacher was compiled (in the form of an ode) by the renowned Rev. Cotton Mather in 1702, which can be found here.

1646-8: In response to colony-wide questions on church membership and governance, a synod was permitted to gather in Cambridge to discuss and answer relevant questions. The Weymouth church, along with all but one of the other 28 churches in Massachusetts Bay Colony (Hingham objecting) and churches from the neighboring colonies, was represented at the synod, probably by Rev. Thacher. The result was the Cambridge Platform of 1648. The platform was formally adopted by Massachusetts in 1651, and remained the “religious constitution” of Massachusetts until 1780. It remains the most significant legacy of Congregationalism in early New England.

1664: Having lost his first wife, Rev. Thacher remarried to Margaret Sheaffe of Boston, and, wanting to be closer to his wife’s family but unable to afford commuting between Boston and Weymouth, he was dismissed from the church and moved to Boston. He briefly belonged to the First Church in Boston, before becoming the first pastor of the Third Church in Boston (today the famous Old South Church) in February 1669/70. The Rev. Samuel Torrey was ordained at Weymouth on February 14, 1664/5, having previously preached at Hull and at Weymouth during Rev. Thacher’s absences. He was educated at Harvard College, whose presidency he twice declined, and was considered “one of the ablest ministers of his day,” presiding often at public occasions in Massachusetts.