Agreement of the Settlers at Exeter in New Hampshire

THEY WERE BELIEVERS, COLONIAL NEW HAMPSHIRE

March 16, 1680

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Whereas it hath pleased the Lord to moue the heart of our Dread Soveraigne Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France & Ireland, to grant license & liberty to sundry of his subjects to plant themselves in the westerne partes of America: Wee, his loyall subjects, brethren of the church of Exeter, situate & lying upon Piscataquacke, wth other inhabitants there, considering wth ourselves the holy will of god and our owne necessity, that we should not live whout wholsome lawes & government amongst us, of wch we are altogether destitute; doe in the name of Christ & in the sight of God combine ourselves together, to erect & set up amongst us such government as shall be to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of god, professing ourselves subjects to our Sovereign Lord King Charles, according to the Libertys of our English Colony of the Massachusetts & binding ourselves solemnely by the grace & helpe of Christ & in his name & fear to submit ourselves to such godly & christian laws as are established in the realme of England to our best knowledge, & to all other such lawes wch shall upon good grounds, be made & inacted amongst us according to God, yt we may live quietly & peaceablely together, in all godliness and honesty.

Signed by John Whelewright and thirty-four others.

The Elders or Rulers Oath

You shall swear by the great and dreadful Name of the High God, Maker and Governor of Heaven and earth and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of the Kings and rulers of the earth, that in his Name and fear you will rule and govern his people according to the righteous will of God, ministering justice and judgment on the workers of iniquite, and ministering due incouragement and countenance to well doers, protecting of the people so far as in you lieth, by the help of God from foreigne annoyance and inward desturbance, that they may live a quiet and peacabble life in all godliness and honesty. So God be helpful and gracious to you and yours in Christ Jesus.

The Oath of the People

We do swear by the Great and dreadful Name of the High God, Maker and Governor of heaven and earth, and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the King and Saviour of his people, that in his Name and fear, we will submit ourselves to be ruled and governed according to the will and word of God, and such wholsome laws and ordinances as shall be derived therefrom by our honored Rulers and the lawful assistants, with the consent of the people, and that we will be ready to assist them by the help of God, in the administration of justice and preservation of the peace, with our bodies and goods and best endeavors according to God. So God protect and save us and ours in Jesus Christ.

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Source: Hammond, Isaac Weare (1831-1890)., Editor. Town Papers: Documents Relating to Towns in New Hampshire. Concord, N.H. : Parsons B. Cogswell, state printer (publisher), 1882.  The copyright of these documents is held in the Public Domain. Formatted for the Internet © 2014 Steve Farrell and The Moral Liberal.

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They Were Believers is researched, compiled, and edited (with occasional commentary and explanatory notes) by Steve Farrell, Founder and Editor In Chief of The Moral Liberal. Copyright © 2012-2014 Steve Farrell.

John Langdon died September 18, 1819.

American Minute with Bill Federer

At age 22 he became a sea captain, like his older brother Woodbury Langdon, sailing to the West Indies.

Then the British imposed trade restrictions with the Revenue Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765.

When John Langdon sailed his ship into Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the British seized his cargo of sugar and rum.

The British then imposed the Tea Act, provoking the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773.

The same day Portsmouth resolved to refuse all British ships from landing with tea.

King George III issued a royal order, October 19, 1774, banning the export of gunpowder and arms to America.

When word reached Portsmouth, John Langdon led 400 men to capture British Fort William and Mary in New Castle, seizing arms and 100 barrels of gunpowder.

In 1775, John Langdon was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress, as was later his brother, Woodbury Langdon.

In 1776, John Langdon oversaw the building of American warships, including the “Ranger,” which he recommended be captained by John Paul Jones.

Langdon was elected Speaker of the New Hampshire House, 1776-1782, where he championed fiscal responsibility of using silver and gold instead of paper currency.

When the British recaptured Fort Ticonderoga, Speaker John Langdon reportedly told the Legislature:

“I have 3,000 dollars in hard money. I will pledge the plate in my house for 3,000 more, and I have 70 hogsheads of Tobago rum which shall be disposed of for what it will bring. These and the avails of these are at the service of the state. If we defend our homes and our firesides, I may get my pay; if we do not defend them, the property will be of no value to me.”

Langdon built seven ships with which he raided British ships.

As a colonel, he led a voluntary company of soldiers to Saratoga, where he witnessed the surrender of British General Burgoyne.

He commanded soldiers in 1778 with John Sullivan’s army in Rhode Island.

In 1784, John Langdon was a State Senator and in 1785 he was elected President (Governor) of New Hampshire.

As President (Governor) of the State of New Hampshire, John Langdon issued A Proclamation for a Day of Public Fasting and Prayer. February 21, 1786:

“…that the citizens of this State may with one heart and voice, penitently confess their manifold sins and transgressions, and fervently implore the divine benediction, that a true spirit of repentance and humiliation may be poured out upon all orders and degrees of men, and a compleat and universal reformation take place…

that he would be pleased to bless the great Council of the United States of America, and direct their deliberations to the wise and best determinations…

and above all, that he would rain down righteousness upon the earth, revive religion, and spread abroad the knowledge of the true GOD, the Saviour of man, throughout the world.”

In 1786, John Langdon was chosen as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify, making the U.S. Constitution law, June 21, 1788.

Governor John Langdon wrote to George Washington:

“I have the great pleasure of informing your Excellency that this State has this day adopted the Federal Constitution…thereby placing the Key Stone in the great arch.”

In 1788, John Langdon was elected New Hampshire’s first U.S. Senator, traveling to the U.S. Capital in New York City.

The Senate elected him President of the Senate, where he counted the votes of the electoral college in the first national election.

Langdon informed George Washington that was elected President, and on April 30, 1789, he administered the oath of office to the nation’s first chief executive.

Returning to New Hampshire as Governor, John Langdon issued a Proclamation, October 10, 1805, acknowledging the nation’s victory over the Muslim Barbary Pirates of North Africa:

“It has been customary…to set apart a certain day…for…publicly recognizing their dependence upon Almighty God for protection, and that they might express their gratitude to Him for all blessings and mercies received and implore a continuance of them;-

I therefore…appoint Thursday, the 28th day of November…as a day of public Thanksgiving and Prayer…in praising and adoring Almighty God, and in offering up our thanks to Him as the great author of every good and perfect gift…

For the termination of our contest with one of the African powers; the liberation of our fellow-citizens from bondage…

But above all, for the inestimable blessings of the gospel of peace and salvation, the means of grace and hopes of future glory, through the merits of a crucified Savior. ..

That he would bless the means used for the promulgation of his word, and make pure religion and morality more and more abound.”

After retiring, John Langdon founded the New Hampshire Bible Society in 1812, four years before the American Bible Society was founded.

Serving as its first President, its goal was to put a Bible in every New Hampshire home.

John Langdon had been visited in 1817 by President James Monroe, as the newspaper reported:

“While at Portsmouth, the President spent that part of the Sabbath which was not devoted to public divine service, with that eminent patriot and Christian, John Langdon.

His tarry…was probably longer than the time devoted to any individual in New England.”

John Langdon died SEPTEMBER 18, 1819.

As Governor, John Langdon had issued a Proclamation, October 21, 1785:

“It therefore becomes our indispensable Duty, not only to acknowledge, in general with the rest of Mankind, our dependence on the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, but as a People peculiarly favoured, to testify our Gratitude to the Author of all our Mercies, in the most solemn and public manner…

To celebrate the Praises of our divine Benefactor; to acknowledge our own Unworthiness, confess our manifold Transgressions, implore his Forgiveness, and intreat the continuance of those Favours which he had been graciously pleaded to bestow upon us;

That he would…bless our Seminaries of Learning, and spread the Gospel of his Grace over all the Earth. And all servile Labour is forbidden on said Day.”

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The Moral Liberal contributing editor, William J. Federer, is the bestselling author of “Backfired: A Nation Born for Religious Tolerance no Longer Tolerates Religion,” and numerous other books. A frequent radio and television guest, his daily American Minute is broadcast nationally via radio, television, and Internet. Check out all of Bill’s books here.

274 – Oct. 01 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

 

They refuse to support a State Church by force

October 01, 1767 – The records from the First Baptist Church in New Hampshire located in Newtown, (now Newton) show that the church was under attack by the standing order (state Congregational Church). The church was founded in 1752 and is still in existence today.

The following was from those records. John Wadleigh, was chosen moderator, Joseph Welch, was chosen clerk, and the church voted to carry on Mr. Stewart’s and Mr. Carter’s lawsuits which are now in the law on account of rates imposed on them by the standing order.

The remainder of the minutes dealt with the salary to be given to the pastor, Mr. Hovey. Three men were appointed to the oversight of securing the pastor’s wages, and it was further decided that any men who refused to participate in providing the annual compensation of £50 would not have the protection of the local assembly against the demands of the standing order. Nearly 3 years later the church met again (June 25, 1770) and spent the entire business meeting in discussion of the lawsuit.

Another historian has written, “It is as refreshing as a breeze from their own mountains to find so much human ‘granite’ in this little band of New Hampshire Baptists. They refuse to support a State Church by force, and they resolve to support their own chosen pastor cheerfully…Such a Church deserved to live…The work of the Baptists in N.H. grew very slowly following the establishment of the church inNewton. In his centennial address, William Lamson concluded his remarks by saying, “…the constant persecutions and litigations had much to do in retarding their growth.”

Dr. Greg J. Dixon: From: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson, pp. 407-08.

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109 — April 19 – This Day in Baptist History Past

He opposed all infidelity
1836 – Dr. A. J. Gordon, named for Adoniram Judson,was born in New Hampshire on this day in 1836 to godly parents.  At the age of 15 he came to a vital knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Upon completing his education including his theological training, he was ordained and became the pastor at Jamaica Plain, MA.  From 1867 until 1869, he was sought as the pastor of the Clarendon Street Baptist Church of Boston, but did not accept it until they agreed to eliminate the paid choir and replace it with congregational singing.  He was a composer of hymns and hymn tunes himself.  His most influential work was related to world evangelism and missions in which he served for over twenty years as a member of the board, or as executive chairman of the American Baptist Missionary Union.  He strongly emphasized the faith element in missions.  He believed that the new birth by the Holy Spirit was essential for the believer.  He participated in Dwight L. Moody’s evangelistic meetings and was a consistent soul winner and evangelistic preacher himself.  He knew that all preaching and ministering of the Word was futile apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.  He was an apologist for biblical Christianity against Darwinism, agnosticism, Unitarianism, transcendentalism, Christian Science, baptismal regeneration, and the influence of materialism in the evangelical churches of his day. Dr. Gordon was a fundamentalist before fundamentalism.  He held that the Bible was inerrant and infallible.  He died in 1895 and on his gravestone reflects that Blessed Hope – Pastor A.J. Gordon “Until He Come.”
Dr. Greg J. Dixon, from: This Day in Baptist History Vol. I: Cummins/Thompson /, p. 159.
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104 – April 14 – This Day in Baptist History Past

 

An Outstanding Early Black Pastor

 

 

Thomas Paul was born on September 3, 1773, in Exeter, New Hampshire. The names of his parents and their role in the community are not known. In 1789, at the age of sixteen, Paul converted and was then baptized by the Reverend Mr. Locke, and he began preaching at the age of twenty-eight. He traveled and preached for three years before settling down. In 1804 he made Boston, Massachusetts his home. A year later on May 1, 1805, Paul was ordained at Nottingham West, New Hampshire, and during the same year he married Catherine Water-house.

 

On August 8, 1805, twenty-four African American members met in Master Vinal’s schoolhouse and formed the congregation known as the First African Church. The white church members’ response to the separation of African American members was minimal. Boston’s two white Baptist churches assisted the congregation in its early stages and encouraged its growth. Finally, on December 4, 1806, Thomas Paul was installed as pastor of the First African Church, which was later renamed the Joy Baptist Church.

 

Paul presented a plan in 1823 to the Baptist Missionary Society of Massachusetts, to improve the moral and religious condition of the people of Haiti. His plan was enthusiastically accepted and he was sent as a missionary for six months. During his stay, President Boyer of the Republic of Haiti gave Paul permission to preach at public gatherings. He successfully reached many through his missionary work, but because of his lack of knowledge regarding French languages his overall success was limited.

 

Thomas Paul passed into the presence of his Lord on April 14, 1831.

 

The First African Church was an important part of the African American Boston community as it addressed issues and concerns of the day.

 

 

 

Dr. Dale R. Hart: Adapted from: Paul Thomas (1773–1831) – Minister, missionary, Organizes Independent Black Churches in Boston and New York, Missionary Work in Haiti – J Rank Articles