Read before the Maine Historical Society, December 21, 1883.

BY REV. HENRY S. BURRAGE, D.D.

Ir is an interesting fact that the first Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, - the oldest of all the Baptist churches in the Southern States, was organized in the latter part of the seventeenth century at Kittery, in what was then known as the Province of Maine, now the State of Maine. The first information we have concerning the presence of Baptists at Kittery is contained in a letter which Humphrey Churchwood, a member of the Baptist church in Boston, but a resident of Kittery, addressed to his brethren of Massachusetts Bay, January 3, 1682. The letter reads as follows:

Humphrey, a servant of Jesus Christ to the church which is at Boston: grace be with you, and peace, from God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comforts, who comforteth us in all our tribulations that we may be able to comfort them that are in any trouble, as we are comforted of God. Most dearly beloved brethren and friends, as I am, through free grace, a member of the same body, and joined to the same head, Christ Jesus, I thought it my special duty to inform you that the tender mercy of God, in and through Jesus Christ, hath shined upon us by giving light to them that sit in darkness, and to guide our feet in the way of peace; for a great door, and effectual, is opened in these parts, and there are many adversaries, according to the 1st of Corinthians, 16:9. Therefore, dearly beloved, having a desire to the service of Christ, which is perfect freedom, and the propagating his glorious gospel of peace and salvation, and eyeing that precious promise in Daniel the 12th, 3rd, "They that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever," therefore I signify unto you that here [are] a competent number of well established people whose hearts the Lord hath opened insomuch that they have gladly received the word and do seriously profess their hearty desire to the following of Christ and to partake of all his holy ordinances, according to his blessed institutions and divine appointment; therefore I present my ardent desire to your serious consideration, which is, if the Lord see it fit, to have a gospel church planted here in this place; and in order hereunto, we think it meet that our beloved brother, William Screven,

who is, through free grace, gifted and endued with the spirit of veterans to preach the gospel [be ordained]; who, being called by us, who are visibly joined to the church.* When our beloved brother is ordained according to the sacred rule of the Lord Jesus our humble petition is to to God that he will be pleased to carry on this good work to the glory of his holy name, and to the enlarging of the kingdom of his beloved Son, our dear Redeemer, who will add daily to his church such as shall be saved; and we desire you in the name of our Lord Jesus not to be slack in this good work, believing verily that you will not, and that you are always abounding in the work of the Lord, and we humbly crave your petitions for us to the throne of grace, and we commend you to God and the good word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified.

Concerning the previous history of Mr. Screven (to whom allusion is here made, and who was probably the bearer of this letter) but little is known. It is inferred, for reasons that will be given subsequently, that he came from Somerton, in Somersetshire, England. After his settlement at Kittery he is first mentioned in a deed by which, November 15, 1673, Elizabeth Seely granted ten acres of land on the west side of Spruce Creek, Kittery, at what was known as Carle's Point, to William Screven, for eleven pounds "current pay of New England." He is next mentioned in the record of his marriage, July 3, 1674, to Bridget Cutts, a daughter of Robert Cutts, one of the three brothers so prominent among the early settlers of New Hampshire. John, the oldest, was the first president of New Hampshire; Robert, the youngest, settled at Barbadoes, in the West Indies, where he married, as his second wife, Mary Hoel. Subsequently he came to New England, and first lived in Portsmouth, in the Great House (so-called) at the foot of Pitt street. Afterward he removed to Kittery, where he was extensively engaged in ship-building. He had two sons and four daughters. It was the second of these daughters, Bridget Cutts, whom William Screven married.

From the records of the Province of Maine ‡ we learn that at

*I have followed the copy of this letter which is found in the reprint of Backus' History of the Baptists of New England (1871), Vol. 1, p. 401.

+ York Deeds, Book IV, Folio 41.

By a resolution adopted in the Maine House of Representatives March 3, 1848, and in the Senate on the same date, the Governor and Council were “authorized to employ a suitable person to transcribe the Early Records of the Province of Maine, now in the keeping of the clerk of the Judicial Courts of the County of York, to be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State." March 13, 1848, Charles Bradbury of Kennebunk

a County Court held at York, July 6, 1675, among several "presentments" by the Grand Jury was the following:

We present William Scrivine for not frequenting the publique meeting according to Law on the Lord's days. Early Records, Vol. 3, p. 296. This person presented is remitted because p evidence it appears that hee usually attends Mr. Mowdys meeting on the Lord's days. Early Records, Vol. 3, p. 315.

At a Court held at Wells, July 4, 1676, Mr. Screven was appointed a constable for "ye lower part of the River." In 1678 and in 1680, he was appointed to serve on the grand jury, and at the General Assembly held at York, June 30, 1681, he took his seat as a deputy from Kittery.

It is evident from these records, as well as from Churchwood's letter, that in his religious views Mr. Screven was not in harmony with the "Standing Order." He was nevertheless esteemed as a citizen, and was rapidly advanced to positions of official trust.

Churchwood's letter shows that at the time to which it refers there were Baptists enough in Kittery in part doubtless as a result of Mr. Screven's labors to warrant the formation of a Baptist church. The nearest church of the same faith was that in Boston, to which this letter was addressed, and which was organized in March, 1665, sixteen years before. Churchwood's letter evidently secured for Mr. Screven a hearty welcome from the church in Boston, and he was admitted to membership in the church. After hearing him preach they at once acceded to the request of the brethren in Kittery, and gave to the newly ordained the following certificate, dated January 11, 1682: —

To all whom it may concern: These are to certify, that our beloved brother, William Screven, is a member in communion with us, and having had trial of his gifts among us, and finding him to be a man whom God hath qualified and furnished with the gifts of his Holy Spirit, and grace, enabling him to open and apply the word of God, which through the blessing of the Lord Jesus may be useful in his hand, for the begetting and building up of souls in the knowledge of God, do therefore appoint, approve and encourage him, to exercise his gift in the place where port was appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Council, to make this transcription. The work was completed in four volumes, and deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, with this title: "Transcript of the Early Records of the Province of Maine." A manuscript copy of this "Transcript" was made a few years ago for James P. Baxter, Esq., of Portland, and the references in this article to these "Early Records" are to Mr. Baxter's copy.

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he lives, or elsewhere, as the providence of God may cast him; and so the Lord help him to eye his glory in all things, and to walk humbly in the fear of his name.

This certificate was signed in behalf of the rest by Isaac Hull,* pastor of the church, and John Farnum.

Meanwhile this movement to establish a Baptist church in Kittery became known there, and awakened probably not unexpected opposition. Under date of January 25, 1682, Mr. Churchwood addressed another letter to his brethren in Boston, in which he says:

I thought good to inform you that since our beloved brother Screven went from us, who, I trust is by God's mercy now with you, by his long absence from us, has given great advantage to our adversaries to triumph and to endeavor to beat down that good beginning which God, by his poor instrument hath begun amongst us: and our magistrate, Mr. Hucke,† is almost every day summoning and threatening the people by fines and other penalties, if ever they come to our meeting any more, five shillings for every such offence.‡

He adds that he also, on the previous day, was brought before the magistrate who demanded of him how he spent his time. In the presence of the magistrate, also, he had a long discussion with Mr. Woodbridge,§ the parish minister, concerning infant baptism, etc. Mr. Screven in a short time, possibly after a visit

*Isaac Hull was the second pastor of the church.

† Francis Hooke of Kittery, Judge of Probate Court from 1693 to 1695.

The original of this letter is in the possession of the writer of this article.

§ Greenleaf, in his Sketches of the Ecclesiastical History of the State of Maine, p. 29, note, says: "Mr. Backus in relating the account of an ancient Baptist church at Kittery mentions a Mr. Woodbridge as Priest of the place. This was in 1680. But we have no other account of this man." In the appendix to Rev. Dr. Charles A. Briggs' " American Presbyterianism," p. 1., I find the following: "Benjamin Woodbridge was son of John Woodbridge, pastor of Andover, Mass.; brother of John Woodbridge, pastor of Wethersfield, Conn., and of Timothy Woodbridge, pastor of Hartford, Conn. He was pastor at Windsor, Conn., from 1668-1680, of a party who were dissatisfied with Mr. Chauncy, who had been called by the majority of the church. They were both dismissed by order of the court. The two pastors then united in one church. He is probably the Mr. Woodbridge mentioned in a letter of Joshua Moody from Portsmouth, N. H., in 1683. It is probable that he supplied that church during the troubles of its pastor with the arbitrary authorities. He supplied the church at Bristol from 1681-1686, but the people would not unite upon him. (Collections of the Mass. Hist. Soc. IV., Vol. 8, pp. 463, 651-655; Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of Connecticut, New Haven, 1861, p. 513). He was again supply at Portsmouth, N H., in 1690," and Dr. Briggs inserts a letter from Mr. Woodbridge to some English Bishop written at Portsmouth, April 2, in that year. This letter was discovered by Dr. Briggs in the summer of 1884, in the Rolls Office, London.