Pierpont, John; Hollis Street Church, Boston. Proceedings in the Controversy between a part of the Proprietors and the Pastor of Hollis Street Church, Boston. 1838 and 1839. Boston: Printed by S. N. Dickinson, [1839]. First Edition. [12341]
Self-wraps, untrimmed edges, 10 x 6 1/4 inches, 60 pp., top leaf and exposed edges darkened, rest good. Good. Pamphlet.
Containing all the documents issued in the controversy "commencing with the annual meeting of September, 1838, and closing with the adjourned one of November 11, 1839," along with additional commentary.
"Voted, That many members of this Society have viewed with deep regret the zeal of their reverend Pastor in those exciting topics which divide and disturb the harmony of the community, thereby alienating his friends and diminishing his usefulness as the Christian teacher of this Society. That they believe the precepts of the gospel do not warrant him, as a Christian minister, in interfering with the established laws of the land: but that the alteration of old and the adoption of new laws, belong to legislators duly elected for that purpose." - p. 5.
The Rev. John Pierpont of the Hollis Street Church, Boston, was evicted from his charge over what some in his congregation considered to be his meddling in affairs that did not concern him, or them. These causes included Temperance, Debtor's Prison, the Militia Law, Antimasonry, Phrenology, and the Abolition of Slavery. His congregation considered these concerns to be the responsibility of the State Legislature, and not of a Christian pastor. This report includes the charges and views of the congregation, and the Rev. Pierpont's responses.
John Pierpont (1785-1866), b. at Litchfield, Ct; graduated at Yale College, 1804; tutor in the family of Col. William Allston, of South Carolina, 1805-9; commenced the practice of law in Newburyport, 1812; was for some time a merchant in Boston, and subsequently in Baltimore; in 1816 entered the theological school of Harvard University, and in 1819 was ordained pastor of the Hollis Street Church, where he remained for 19 years, when a difference in opinion with some members of his congregation resulted in his resignation. He resided in Boston until 1845, when he was called to the Unitarian Church in Troy, New York, and in 1849 he accepted the pastoral charge of a church in Medford, Mass. He was a prolific writer and contributor to various publications. In 1861 he was Chaplain of the 22nd Massachusetts infantry.
