Jabez Chickering

Last updated

Jabez Chickering (died 1826) was a lawyer and businessman from Dedham, Massachusetts.

Contents

Personal life

Chickering was the son of the minister in Dedham's South Church, also named Jabez Chickering, and his wife Hannah, the daughter of Thomas Balch. [1] [2] He was graduated from Harvard College in 1804. [2] He had a wife and six children. [3] Chickering died in Monroe, Michigan in 1826. [3]

Career

Chickering was a lawyer with a large practice and a justice of the peace. [3] [2]

Along with William Phillips, Chickering was a principal incorporation of the Dedham Worsted Company on Mother Brook. [4] [3] It went out of business after only three years, however, and the mill was purchased by Benjamin Bussey. [5] He published the Dedham Gazette, with Theron Metcalf as editor. [6]

In September 1821 he applied to become a Unitarian minister, saying he had "faithfully & regularly attended to the studies of the Theology School at Cambridge. [3] A professor, Andrews Norton, however, protested that his "certificate was not regularly voted" and that Chickering "has been far from faithfully attending to my exercises." [3]

In January 1824, the public became aware that Chickering had gone bankrupt and went to New York to try and recoup some of his money. [3] On February 2, the directors and shareholders of the Dedham Bank, where Chickering was a cashier, were informed that $35,000 was also missing. [3] [2] His widow was eventually able to pay off the bank and other individuals to whom Chickering owed money. [3]

Dispute at First Church

When Rev. Jason Haven died, Chickering was appointed to the committee to find his replacement in the pulpit at the First Church and Parish in Dedham. [2] Bates was unpopular with the congregation, and it was hoped that the new minister's politics would be more in line with the community. [2] On March 1, 1818, just days after Bates left town, Chickering and the committee produced Alvan Lamson. [7] Lamson was an 1817 graduate of Harvard Divinity School, a Unitarian stronghold. [7] The congregation were largely conservative Calvinists.

Those who opposed Lamson did not raise any objections to his moral or professional qualifications. [8] They did, however, object to his theology and found him lacking in "spirituality and knowledge of the scriptures" and displayed little of "that which fixes the attention and reaches the heart." [9] Lamson's initial reaction seems to have been to decline the call, given the size of the opposition, but he was persuaded to accept by Chickering. [10] [11] Many members of the church stormed out when they heard he had accepted.

A council was called to consider the situation and then to ordain Lamson. Chickering presented at the council letters showing that if all the members of the church had been present when the vote was taken that there would have been a majority in favor of Lamson. [12] The council was not inclined to consider the views and membership status of the absent members and instead considered Lamson's qualifications. [12]

The congregation was split, with the conservative church members leaving and taking the church's property with them. They also sent a committee, led by Chickering, to meet with Samuel Fales as the senior deacon. [13] They demanded "Christian satisfaction" regarding his deaconship. [14] When they reported back to the liberal sect, they charged Fales with leasing the parsonage house out without the church's consent. [13] [lower-alpha 1] Fales was also accused of not giving direct answers to their questions, including which group he considered to be the true church. [13] As a result, the liberal group voted to remove Fales as deacon but allowed him to remain a member of the church. [13]

A lawsuit, Baker v. Fales, ensued, with the liberal members of the church attempting to regain possession of the church's property. At the trial in February 1820, the members of First Church were represented by Judge John Davis and Chickering while the breakaway church members were represented by Theron Metcalf, Samuel Haven, and a Mr. Prescott. [16] Judge Samuel Wilde presided over the trial and the jury eventually ruled for Chickering's side.

The case was appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court [16] [17] and was heard during the October 1820 session. [18] There, Massachusett's Solicitor General, Daniel Davis, represented the plaintiffs with Chickering. [16] [19] The breakaway defendants had Daniel Webster and Theron Metcalf representing them. [16] [19] [18] Chickering's side won once again at the high court. The case was a major milestone in the road towards the separation of church and state and led to the Commonwealth formally disestablishing the Congregational Church in 1833. [20]

In a pamphlet Haven published, Chickering was portrayed as one of the central "plotters" in the whole ordeal. [21] Chickering then attempted to sue Haven for libel, but a grand jury in Norfolk County refused to indict Haven in October 1820. [22] Chickering then tried in Cambridge, where the pamphlet was printed, and a Middlesex Grand Jury did indict him. [22] Haven was arrested on December 1, 1819. [22] Due in part to the long speech Haven gave in his own defense, the trial lasted over two days. [22] [lower-alpha 2] Haven was acquitted.

Notes

  1. It was rented to a widow, Rebecca Alden, for $1.50 a year. [15]
  2. It is thought the Daniel Webster may have assisted Haven. [22]

Related Research Articles

Joshua Bates was an American educator and clergyman. He was the third president of Middlebury College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1800–1899</span>

The history of Dedham, Massachusetts, from 1800 to 1899 saw growth and change come to the town. In fact, the town changed as much during the first few decades of the 19th century as it did in all of its previous history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theron Metcalf</span> American judge

Theron Metcalf was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He was a New England jurist and served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allin Congregational Church</span> Church in Massachusetts, United States

Allin Congregational Church is a historic United Church of Christ church in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was built in 1818 by conservative breakaway members of Dedham's First Church and Parish in the Greek Revival style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Church and Parish in Dedham</span>

The First Church and Parish in Dedham is a Unitarian Universalist congregation in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was the 14th church established in Massachusetts. The current minister, Rev. Rali M. Weaver, was called in March 2007, settled in July, and is the first female minister to this congregation.

Thomas Balch was a Colonial minister in South Dedham, Massachusetts.

Samuel Dexter was a minister from Dedham, Massachusetts. He ministered there from May 1724 to 1755.

Jason Haven was the longest serving minister of the First Church and Parish in Dedham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvan Lamson</span> American cleric

Alvan Lamson was a minister at First Church and Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts. His ordination led to a split in the church and eventually a lawsuit, Baker v. Fales, that helped disestablish the church and state in Massachusetts.

<i>Baker v. Fales</i>

Baker v. Fales, also known as The Dedham Case, was a seminal case of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. It involved the First Church and Parish in Dedham rejecting the minister the Town of Dedham selected for it and its split into the Allin Congregational Church. It was a major case on the road to the separation of church and state and led to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts formally disestablishing the Congregational Church in 1833.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1700–1799</span> Aspect of history

The history of Dedham, Massachusetts from 1700 to 1799 saw the town become one of the largest and most influential country towns in Massachusetts. As the population grew and residents moved to outlying areas of the town, battles for political power took place. Similar battles were taking place within the churches, as liberal and conservative factions bristled at paying for ministers with whom they had differences of theological opinion. New parishes and preciencts were formed, and eventually several new towns broke away.

Francis Chickering was an early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts who served in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts and on that town's Board of Selectmen for 15 years. He was also a teacher in the first public school in America, today well known as the Dedham Public Schools.

Lt. Daniel Pond was a prominent early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts.

Nathaniel Whiting was an early settler of Dedham, Massachusetts. He owned several mills on Mother Brook and is said to have dug the canal, the first man-made water way in America.

Ezra Morse (1643-1697) was an early resident of Dedham, Massachusetts and owned the second mill on Mother Brook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Haven (judge)</span> American judge

Samuel Haven was an American judge.

St. Paul's Church is an Episcopal Church in Dedham, Massachusetts

The Dedham Bank was a bank in Dedham, Massachusetts. It was located on the corner of High and Pearl Streets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Dedham, Massachusetts</span>

This is a timeline of the history of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Death of Elizabeth Fales</span>

The death of Elizabeth Fales took place on May 18, 1801, in Dedham, Massachusetts. Her boyfriend, Jason Fairbanks, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death but escaped from jail before he could be hanged. He was recaptured, returned to Dedham, and hanged before a crowd of 10,000. The case made national headlines.

References

  1. Cutler, William Parker; Cutler, Julia Perkins (1888). Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler, LL.D. R. Clarke. p. 56. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hanson 1976, p. 202.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hanson 1976, p. 214.
  4. Worthington 1900, p. 5.
  5. Worthington 1900, p. 10.
  6. Austin 1912, p. 21.
  7. 1 2 Hanson 1976, p. 203.
  8. Smith 1936, p. 81.
  9. Wright 1988, p. 24.
  10. Wright 1988, p. 25.
  11. Hanson 1976, p. 204.
  12. 1 2 Wright 1988, p. 26.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Hanson 1976, p. 206.
  14. Hanson 1976, p. 206-207.
  15. Hanson 1976, p. 208.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Smith 1936, p. 83.
  17. Eliphalet Baker and Another v. Samuel Fales, 16 Mass. 403
  18. 1 2 Hanson 1976, p. 212.
  19. 1 2 Wright 1988, p. 31.
  20. Neem, Johann N. (2003). "Politics and the Origins of the Nonprofit Corporation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, 1780–1820". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 32 (3): 363. doi:10.1177/0899764003254593.
  21. Hanson 1976, p. 207.
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 Hanson 1976, p. 211.

Works cited