Hampshire County Ministerial Association Minutes, 1731-47

Authors

  • Griffin Black

Keywords:

American Religious History

Abstract

The manuscript of this interesting document once was at Forbes Library, Northampton, Massachusetts, but has been missing for at least several decades. Transcribed for the first time from a photocopy of the original, on file at Forbes, the entries include many that record Edwards' attendance, and several are written by him as scribe, including the excerpt below (from pp. 9-12). Specific cases of discipline from Northampton also appear in the minutes. Also, some of the seemingly generic questions that the ministers pose to be answered in their meetings sound familiar Edwardsean themes. The entry below, relating the proceedings of a meeting in October 1733 at the home of Edwards' cousin, Stephen Williams, pastor of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, record cases of apparent fornication and of access to baptism, the rules of the association's library, and some measures for "the reformation of manners in the county."

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Published

2018-11-23

Issue

Section

Historical Documents