Town Name It is safe to say that the residents of Princeton have not been familiar with the character, social standing and even greatness of the Rev. Thomas Prince whose name the town bears, and who was in many respects a remarkable man.
Birth Born in Sandwich, Massachusetts, May 15, 1687, he was graduated at Harvard College in 1707. For several years after graduation he traveled extensively abroad, visiting among other places, London, Amsterdam and the Barbados.
While in London he preached in several churches and was invited by one or more to settle with them, and he did settle at Coombs, but his love for his native land led him to decline all invitations to remain permanently abroad, and in the year 1717 he returned to Boston.
The Old South Church His fame as a preacher had preceded him, and he was at once desired by the members of the Old South Church to become the colleague of the pastor, Rev. Dr. Sewall, and a call resulted in his acceptance in 1718, and in this relation he remained forty years until his death. It is recorded that in September, 1717, he preached a Thanksgiving Sermon at the " Thursday Lecture " in the hearing of " a multitudinous auditory, many belonging to the adjacent towns being present."
Ordination He was ordained Oct. 1, 1718, the sermon being preached by Mr. Prince himself and it is said to have been " a wonderful production." judge Sewall records of this service "Sang the Chariots of God are twenty thousand." " Entertainment was at Dr. Sewall's house, was very plentiful and splendid." (The charge on the Deacons' books for wine used on this occasion was
L5,17,3.)
Salary At the time of the marriage of Mr. Prince to Miss Deborah Denny, Oct. 30, 1719, the church voted that " Three Pounds five shillings per week be allowed and paid to Mr. Thomas Prince our Rev'd Pastor from the time of his marriage," and that " he be desired by the Committee to remove into one of the ministerial houses of the Church as soon as may be." The salary thus voted was not a meager stipend for the time.
At first he appears to have occupied the old parsonage which was formerly the residence of Madam Norton and Governor Winthrop.
Residences in Boston In a preface to the second edition of his " Chronology " Mr. Prince refers to a valuable journal of events relating to the Massachusetts Colony " All wrote with the said Governor Winthrop's own hand who deceased in this very house I dwell in." This house was on the main highway, now Washington Street, opposite School Street. It was destroyed and used for firewood by the British troops during the winter of 1775.
Mr. and Mrs. Prince afterwards occupied another " Ministerial house " built on Milk Street in the rear o the meeting house. It was probably in this latter house that he died. The church appears to have had at different periods three or four parsonages.
Plan for the Day Mr. Prince commenced with a well-regulated household, as is shown by a manuscript found among his papers giving his plan for each day's duties, in the carrying out of which it is presumed Deborah acquiesced.
1. At 5 get up and go into my Study.
2. Pray and read in the Orig. Bible till 6 and then call up the family.
3. At 6 1/2 Go to Family Prayers and only the Porringer of Chocolat for Breakfast.
4. At 7 go into my study till 121/2 and then do something about the House till I to dinner.
5. Dinner at 1.
6. At 2 Dress and go about till Candle Light, Except Wednesday, after Dinner, do something about the House: Saturday after Dinner visit Dr. Sewall's till 21/2 and then Home.
7. At Candle Light and Study to 91/2 at 91/2 go to Family Prayers and so to Bed: N. B. I eat no supper.
Quality as a Minister With a pleasing personality he was a favorite with young and old, being in private conversation both interesting and instructive. He was a tender and faithful pastor and is said by one to have preached as one that felt " the Divine Excellency and importance of the Word of God which he preached to others."
During his pastorate there was great religious prosperity. At the time of Whitfield's visit to Boston, he welcomed him and joined and rejoiced in his great work.
One notable incident in his pulpit ministrations in 1746 is related. A French fleet consisting of forty ships of war under the Duc D'Aulney sailed from Nova Scotia with designs for the destruction of New England. Meanwhile a day of fasting and prayer was appointed to be observed in all the churches, if by any means a gracious Providence in His own chosen way might avert the threatened calamity. While Mr. Prince was officiating on this occasion in his own church, and was in the midst of a fervent prayer for divine interposition, though the day up to that time had been perfectly calm, there came a sudden gust of wind, so violent as to cause a loud clattering of the windows. He instantly paused in his prayer, looked around upon his congregation with a countenance illumined with hope, and then proceeded to ask God that the wind " might frustrate the object of our enemies and be the means of saving our country." A tempest ensued in which the greater part of the French fleet was destroyed. The General commanding surrendered, many died of disease, thousands perished in the ocean, and the enterprise was abandoned.
Literary Ability Of his literary abilities much has been written, - " his industry was perfectly exhaustive." In early life he showed a marked inclination to collect and preserve historical material, which found its culmination in the preparation and publication of the New England Chronology by which he is perhaps best known, and " than which there is none more valuable." He shared with the Mathers the reputation of being the most learned man in New England in the Eighteenth Century, but surpassed all the Mathers in the method, accuracy and usefulness of his writings. Dr. Chauncey said of him, " He possessed all the intellectual powers in a degree far beyond what is common. I do not know of anyone that had more learning among us, excepting Dr. Cotton Mather." Others say, 49 an assiduous annalist whose service in perpetuating evidence relating to our early history exceeds all others since the first generation." " Nothing came from his pen that does not now possess historical value. His occasional papers are all luminous with the spirit and life of the time."
Publications In addition to his ordinary pulpit ministrations he delivered many sermons upon public events, and funeral discourses portraying the life and character of men and women whose memory was worth preserving. It is stated that at least fifty of these public addresses and sermons were printed. Many are found in our libraries to-day.
Earthquakes and Lightning Rods Among other publications Mr. Prince published in 1727 a Sermon entitled " Earthquakes the Works of God and Tokens of His Just Displeasure," of which in 1755 he issued a reprint with an " appendix concerning the Operation of God in Earthquakes by means of the Electrical Substance." He was opposed to the use of the lightning rod, regarding all such attempts to escape the wrath of the Almighty as questionable devices. His warning against the lightning rod is stated in these words; - " the more points of Iron are erected round the Earth, to draw the Electrical Substance out of the Air, the more the Earth must needs be charged The Reverend Thomas Prince with it. And therefore it seems worthy of Consideration whether any part of the Earth, being fuller of this terrible Substance, may not be exposed to more shocking Earthquakes. In Boston are more erected than anywhere else in New England; and Boston seems to be more dreadfully Shaken, - 0, there is no getting out of the mighty Hand of God. If we still think to avoid it in the Air we cannot in the Earth; yea, it may grow more fatal." (Extract from The Old Farmer and his Almanac," page 301.)
Prof. John Winthrop published a pamphlet taking issue with Mr. Prince and severely criticizing his statement.
Psalms Mr. Prince also prepared a revision of the New England version of the Psalms which was used for the first time by the Old South Church on the Sabbath following his death.
Rutland Lands The first evidence discovered of Mr. Prince's interest in Rutland lands is shown in a conveyance to him by the heirs of Cyprian Stevens, in the year 1727, for E120 current money, of one-half of a share, that is, one sixty-sixth part of the tract known as the Township of Rutland, which originally was twelve miles square, or 92,i6o acres. Six miles square had been set off for the town of Rutland with some other concessions or grants. This deed was not recorded until the year 1734. (In examination of old deeds one finds evidence that often the recording is delayed until some one is ready to go to the shire town, and then perhaps half a dozen deeds will be entered for record the same day from the same locality.)
Mr. Prince was one of the ten signers of a call issued Oct. 4, 1733. This was published in a Boston paper. The meeting was held Nov. 7 in Boston at the Royal Exchange Tavern on King St.
At this meeting thirteen persons were present including Mr. Prince. Among the number were prominent businessmen of Boston, many of them members or attendants at the Old South Church. Such names appear as Penn Townsend, Adam Winthrop, Francis Brinley, John Jeffries, Thomas Fitch and Jonas Clark. Of the eleven and one-half shares represented at the meeting Mr. Prince was credited with three shares (or one-eleventh of the whole) and his share of the tax subsequently levied was 30L. Nothing appears in print or among the few remaining Prince Manuscripts to suggest what led him to purchase so large an interest in this tract of land, as there was no present, or seemingly prospective, value to the larger part of it. But he certainly could not be called a " promoter " in the modern use of the word, as he retained his holdings, and at the time of his death is said to have possessed some three thousand acres all together. There is no evidence that he realized any financial gain from his possessions, nor did his widow or daughter profit much thereby.
Among his associates Mr. Prince quickly assumed a prominent place, and it was not long before he was engaged in plotting out the divisions of the tract, - East and West Wings, North West Quarter, North East Quarter. At least one of these plans bearing the signature of Mr. Prince and the Committee of the Proprietors has been preserved. The original plan of the East Wing long ago disappeared, but fortunately a small copy was found by the writer a few years ago among papers at Rutland.
Although not the Clerk of the Proprietors nor their Treasurer, there is evidence that he performed a part, if not the principal part, of the duties of both these officers.
One can trace his probable route as he left his home in Boston for one of his trips to the interior. He would pass perhaps through Cambridge and Waltham to Sudbury where he could greet his brother minister and perhaps be entertained over night. In the morning he would follow the old travelled road to Lancaster, at that period a frequently used country road. At Lancaster he would find another brother in the ministry, a college friend whose entertainment he might prefer to the inn. From Lancaster he would pass through Chocksett, now Sterling, then into the path used by occasional travellers in that direction. By this time he would find dwellings few and far between, especially when he reached the area now included in our town.' From this point doubtless the road was very rough and as there was no settlement or even occasional houses he had to depend upon his own resources for rest and refreshment. If he desired to survey his own possessions in Lot A which included a part of Little Wachusett, the prospect must certainly have been discouraging.
Gift for Services The proprietors recognized the value of Mr. Prince's services and in 1734 voted " that 63 acres on the Southerly part of the 72 acres of land in Lot A, not having been set off to any of the proprietor ' s by reason of the Brokenness of it be granted to the Rev. Thos. Prince in consideration of the great care and labour he had taken in conveyancing divisions above named." In the prosecution of this work he must frequently have taken a journey alone or accompanied by a Surveyor or one of the proprietors.
Death The last meeting of the Proprietors attended by Mr. Prince was held on the 15th of August, 1758. After a long illness during which he said he was " weary of this life " he passed away on Sunday, Oct. 22, 1758.1
His last prayer is reported as being a petition " that an open and abundant entrance might be ministered to him into God's heavenly kingdom."
Mr. Prince was doubtless buried in a tomb in the Granary Burial Ground, - a tomb belonging to the Old South Church, - and a marker at this spot now bears his name.
The preamble to his will, dictated of course by himself, shows the greatness of his faith, and is worthy of being put into print.
1. 'There was no tavern in this locality until 1742 when one was established on what is now called the Houghton Road. This spot is now marked by a boulder.
2. "The Old South Church," by Hill, Vol. 2 : 40
Sunday between five and six o'clock in the afternoon, the Rev'd Mr. Prince departed this life after a month's languishment to the inexpressible sorrow of his Church and Congregation over whom he had been ordained pastor forty years the ist. day of the month on which he died, which was Oct. 22, 1758, his funeral was attended the Saturday following at the expense of his Church, who have a just sense of his worth and of their own irreparable loss in his death.
Preamble to Will "First and primarily I do hereby commit both my soul and body into the merciful hands of God my Creator preserver, continual benefactor and redeemer (trusting) that of his infinite goodness through Christ he will forgive me save me make my imperfect spirit perfect in holiness receive it to Glory in the day of Christ's second appearance and raise my body, form it a perfect and glorious structure, unite my body and soul again and acquit and justify me in the public judgment and then carry me up to live with Him in Heaven forever."
The will devises his real estate to his wife and daughter Sarah who afterwards married Moses Gill. (His only son Thomas had previously died a young man. He had however given evidence of marked literary ability.)
Lands in Boston, Plymouth Co., Worcester Co., Hampshire Co., besides those in the several divisions of Rutland district are named. A portion of this had been given to him, and probably some' tracts came through his wife's family, but he purchased the larger portion of it, and his sales were few indeed. Unfortunately no inventory of the estate appears on record or on file. Certainly a record of his personal property would be extremely interesting today.
The property left by his father may have enabled him to gratify his desire to acquire real estate, and also to publish so much historical and religious matter.
There is a portrait of Prince in the Massachusetts Historical Society and a replica is with the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester.'
P. Pelham fecit.
Thomas Prince, A. M./ Quintus Eclesiae Australis Bostonii Novangelorum Pastor E. Collegii Harvardini/ Cantobrigiae Curatoribus, Samuelis Armigeni Fileus et Thomas A. M. denoti Pater/ Painted for and sold by J. Buck at the Spectacles in Queen St., Boston.
Translation John Greenwood painted (it) P. Pelham made (it) Thomas Prince A. M. Fifth pastor of the South Church of Boston of New England, one of the Trustees of Harvard College at Cambridge, son of Samuel Esq. and father of Thomas Master of Arts deceased.
Prince Library We are indebted to Mr. Prince not only for his historical writings which furnish the basis for much of our local history in New England, but also for the invaluable collection of books, pamphlets, and MSS, which he bequeathed to the South Church, and which will stand for all time as a monument to his name and scholarship.
This collection he began to form even in his boyhood. One book shows that it was given to him by his mother in 1697, when he was ten years old; another bears date of possession, Harwich, 1701.
The purpose to collect seems to have become a settled one with him upon his entering college in 1703, his object being the illustration of the history of New England.
It was, therefore, at the time of his matriculation in the sixteenth year of his age, that Prince systematically laid the foundation of a collection of books and manuscripts, a large share of which relate to the civil and religious history of New England, and which, with unfailing zeal and under the most favorable circumstances, in this country and in Europe, he cherished and enriched during his long life. At the time of his death the New England Library (as he called it), we may well believe, was the most extensive of its kind that had ever been formed. During the period of our Colonial history, the Mather family and Governor Hutchinson are alone to be compared with Prince as collectors of books and manuscripts. Their labors in this direction avail us little now, for the governor's collection was scattered by a mob, while the Mather' has been gradually dispersed.'
1. From Introduction to Cat. of Prince Library, pub. by City of Boston in 1870.
The large collection of books, maps and plans which he left by will to the Old South Church was sadly depleted during the days of the Revolution, when the British soldiers occupied the meeting house where the collections were stored, many of them in the steeple chamber. Fortunately some were saved and are now in the Boston Public Library. A catalogue of these has been published and is interesting to examine, while the books themselves cause one to feel that he is in the very presence of Mr. Prince. Other valuable historical material is held by the Massachusetts Historical ~ociety.
Prof. Tyler says of him: - " He had prepared himself for the public service by diligent study at home, and by eight years of observation abroad; he was a man of most tolerant and brotherly spirit; his days were filled by gentle and gracious and laborious deeds; he was a great scholar; he magnified his office and edified the brethren by publishing a large number of judicious and nutritious sermons; ... he took a special interest in physical science, and formed quite definite opinions about earthquakes, comets, 'the electrical substance,' and so forth.
" For all these things he was deeply honored in his own time, and would have been deeply forgotten in ours had he not added to them very unique performances as a historian. No American writer before Thomas Prince qualified himself for the service of history by so much conscientious and specific preparation; and though others did more work in that service, none did better work than he."
The Lord's Day Nov. 12, 1758
The Church stay'd and voted,
That the Pastor and Deacons with the Hon. Andrew Oliver, Esq. (then the secretary of the province) be a committee to receive the Books, &c. bequeathed to this Church by our late Pastor, the Revd Mr. Thomas Prince, in his last Will.
Joseph Sewall.
This will was dated Oct. 2, twenty days before his death. He provides for the manufacture of a sacramental cup for the Church, and he gives his Hebrew Bible in two volumes, and his Greek Testament to his colleague. He then disposes of his library in two parts, his books in Latin, Greek, and the Oriental languages to be kept for the use of the ministers of the church; and the collection which he designates as the New England Library to be preserved apart and intact as a reference library, under the control of the pastors and deacons of the Church. This collection was in the " steeple Chamber " which he had probably used as his study, and here it remained for many years. The vicissitudes through which it has passed are too painful to contemplate. It undoubtedly suffered severely during the British occupation of the town and desecration of the meeting-house. It afterwards suffered from the neglect and from a want of appreciation on the part of its custodians of its intrinsic value.
Many of its treasures have drifted away from it and are now among the chief attractions of other collections; but despoiled as it has been by time, it is a splendid fragment, and as such, under existing arrangements for its care and preservation, it is now safe.
" As Michael Angelo, in his blind old age, was led to the 'Torso Belvedere' in the Vatican, that he might pass his hands over it, and enjoy through touch the grandeur of its lines, so will scholars come and continue to come from all parts of the land to what remains of the New England Library, that they may gather knowledge and inspiration from its treasures."
Life's Work Forty years before, when entering upon his ministry in Boston, Mr. Prince preached from the words of the Psalmist: " But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more. My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day, for I know not the numbers thereof, I will go into the strength of the Lord God: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only, 0 God, thou hast taught me from my youth; and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works." Psalm LXXI, 14-17.
He was, in the strength of his early manhood, just installed in a position of commanding influence, and with a career of honor and usefulness, bright with promise, yet of course all uncertain, lying before him. Could he have preached a sermon to his people in his declining years in anticipation of the close at no distant day of his pastoral work among them, he might well have made reference to that first sermon, and then have taken for his text the remainder of the passage, which would have been inappropriate in 1718, but most appropriate in 1758: " Now also, when I am old and grey headed, 0 God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to every one that is to come."
Of the value of Mr. Prince's historical labors we have this estimate by another writer whose attainments and sympathies made him a competent judge:
" The 22d of Oct. (1758) will be remembered as a remarkable day in the history of the town, and not only of Boston, but of New England; for in that day died the Rev. Thomas Prince, a benefactor to his country; leaving a name which will be venerated to the remotest ages, if literature shall then be valued; a name which may with pride be emulated by the inquirers after historical knowledge, and the admirers of precision and accuracy in the paths of history."
