William Montague (cleric)

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William Montague was an Anglican cleric at Old North Church in Boston and St. Paul's in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Contents

Personal life

Coat of Arms of William Montague Coat of Arms of William Montague.svg
Coat of Arms of William Montague

Montague was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts on September 23, 1757, to Joseph and Sarah Henry Montague. [1] He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1784. [1]

He was married to Jane Little. [2] [3] Their daughter, also named Jane Little Montague, was a teacher at the Mill Village School and the First Middle School in Dedham. [2] Another daughter, Sarah Ann Montague, taught in the East Street School. [3] She had a son who served in the Civil War as a captain in the 38th Infantry Regiment. [3]

While in England, Montague obtained the musket ball that killed Joseph Warren. [4] [5] His son, William Henry Montague, donated it to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, an organization he helped found. [4] Montague also fought in the Revolutionary War. [4]

He died in Dedham July 22, 1833 [1] [4] after three years as a paralytic. [6]

Ministry

He was ordained by Bishop Samuel Seabury of Connecticut. [1] Montague was rector of Old North Church in Boston from 1787 to 1792. [1] After traveling to London in 1790, he became the first minister ordained in America to occupy a pulpit of the English Church. [1]

In May 1777, Rev. William Clark, a Tory, was charged by the Board of Selectmen in Dedham of being a traitor to the American Revolution. [7] [8] He was arrested and jailed for 10 weeks on a prison ship. [9] [10] In June 1778, Fisher Ames obtained a pass for him and Clark was allowed to leave America. [9] [11] It was not until 1791 that the congregation regrouped and called Montague. [12] [13]

Montague received a salary in Dedham of £100 sterling, [14] but was not popular as a minister as he was more focused on administering the temporal affairs of the church, notably the Colburn grant, than his spiritual ones. [6] He remained in the Dedham church until 1818. [1] [a] He lived on the south side High Street, near the intersection with East Street. [5] [b]

Richard Cranch, Abigail Adams' nephew, wrote to President John Adams saying the he, Fisher Ames, and several others wanted Adams to appoint Montague as a chaplain of the USS Constitution. [15] Cranch said the appointment also had the approval of the captain of the ship, Samuel Nicholson. [15]

Teaching career

Monatague taught in the First Middle School for three winters in 1793–94, 1794–95, and 1795–96. [1] In 1800, he taught in Dorchester. [1] [c] He is said to have excelled as a teacher of mathematics. [1]

Notes

  1. ↑ Burgess has his departure as being in 1815. [13]
  2. ↑ The Titcomb family later lived in this house. [5]
  3. ↑ His assistant was Lawrence Sprague, the son of Dr. John Sprague of Dedham. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Slafter 1905, p. 89.
  2. 1 2 Slafter 1905, p. 117.
  3. 1 2 3 Slafter 1905, p. 129.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Parker, Frederic W. (1898). "Bullet taken from the Body of Gen. Warren, who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill". The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 52. Heritage Books: 147. ISBN   978-0-7884-0916-5.{{cite journal}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  5. 1 2 3 Clarke 1903, p. 12.
  6. 1 2 Knudsen 2025, p. 308.
  7. ↑ Hanson 1976, p. 155-156.
  8. ↑ Dedham Historical Society 2001, p. 27.
  9. 1 2 Hanson 1976, p. 158.
  10. ↑ Worthington 1827, p. 71.
  11. ↑ Hurd 1884, p. 56.
  12. ↑ Hanson 1976, p. 164.
  13. 1 2 Burgess, Ebenezer (1840). Dedham Pulpit: Or, Sermons by the Pastors of the First Church in Dedham in the XVIIth and XVIIIth Centuries. Perkins & Marvin. p. 515. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  14. ↑ Burt, Sally (January 2008). "Church History". St. Paul's Church. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  15. 1 2 Knudsen 2025, p. 385.

Works cited

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