A SERMON, PREACHED AT STONEHAM, ON LORD'S DAY, OCTOBER 26, 1794. OCCASIONED BY THE DISMISSION OF THE MINISTER FROM HIS PEOPLE IN THAT TOWN. BY JOHN CLEAVELAND, JUN. V. D. M. AND LATE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH IN STONEHAM. PUBLISHED BY DESIRE.
Salem: Printed by Thomas C. Cushing, Essex-Street, 1795. 32pp. Disbound with a bit of loosening, mild toning, occasional light foxing. Good plus, with ownership signature of Revd. T. Wood.
The pamphlet is an excellent example of 18th century democracy in religious institutions. "With the decision of the ecclesiastical council at Stoneham dismissing Cleaveland, p. 30-32" [ESTC].
"In 1773 he married a woman named Abigail Adams in his father's home town of Canterbury, Connecticut. Two years later John joined Col. Moses Little's regiment of the Continental Army, for which his father was chaplain. After the war, John, Jr., studied theology on his own. Finally in 1785, at the age of thirty-five, he was ordained in Stoneham. His tenure there was peaceful until June 1793, when Abigail Cleaveland died.
"Or more precisely, the Rev. Mr. Cleaveland's tenure was peaceful until January 1794, when he married Elizabeth Evans, his young housekeeper. Even in a society that wanted ministers to be married, some people thought six months was too soon. What's more, there were doubts about the new Mrs. Cleaveland's faith. . . Most important church members stood by their pastor. Their opponents therefore resorted to unorthodox means of showing their disapproval. According to William B. Stevens's 1891 History of Stoneham: At one time they nailed up the door of the minister's pew, at another, covered the seat and chairs and the seat of the pulpit with tar. Not content with these indignities against the pastor, some one vented the general spite by inflicting an injury upon his horse, probably by cutting off his tail.
"The church stood by him, but the town voted to lock and fasten up the meeting-house against him, so that for a time public worship was held at the house of Deacon Edward Bucknam. They refused to raise his salary, requested him to relinquish his ministry and leave the town, declined to furnish any reason, and rejected his proposition to call a council." ["The Difficult Career of the Rev. John Cleaveland, Jr.", Sunday, September 17, 2017, Boston 1775 at Blogspot, accessed May 01, 2026.]
ESTC W15683. Evans 28426. Item #42007
Price: $450.00