CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN REV. NEHEMIAH ADAMS AND REV. J.H. FAIRCHILD, WITH NOTES AND COMMENTS BY A COMMITTEE OF THE PAYSON CHURCH.
Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, Printers, 1846. Original printed salmon wrappers, stitched, 48pp. Occasional light spotting, Very Good.
"The letters concern Rev. Adams' refusal to grant letters of recommendation from his church to the Payson church, of which Rev. Fairchild was pastor, because of accusations of immoral conduct against Fairchild" [Cohen]. The Payson church was thus deprived of "the fellowship of sister churches." Fairchild had allegedly seduced a young woman, Rhoda Davidson, of Edgecomb, Maine, while she was a domestic in his family. She had a child, and nominated Fairchild as the father. Ecclesiastical trials ensued. Fairchild claimed that rival ministers, one of whom was Reverend Adams, had defamed him by calling him an habitual libertine and adulterer. Adams, as Fairchild puts it, "publicly said that there was more guilt resting on my head, than on the head of any man who walks the streets of Boston, or words to that effect."
The Payson Church Committee examines the relevant documents and concludes, "We clearly saw that no guilt had been proved against him, and therefore felt bound to regard him as innocent, wondering how any human creature could have a heart to add another grain to his load of suffering, or inflict one fresh wound on his wife and children. We deem him one of the most injured and persecuted clergymen which the history of this country can furnish."
Cohen 13687. AI 46-54 [5]. Item #29011
Price: $175.00