Samuel Dexter (minister)

Samuel Dexter (October 23, 1700-January 29, 1755) was a minister from Dedham, Massachusetts. He ministered there from May 1724[1][2] to 1755.[1]

Personal life

Dexter was born in Malden, Massachusetts on October 23, 1700.[3] He graduated from Harvard College on 1720 and taught for a few years.[3] On October 23, 1724 he married Catherine Mears of Roxbury.[3][lower-alpha 1] Together they had seven sons and four daughters.[4] He had fragile health, an extreme modesty, and "a disposition... to despondency."[3] This made his life, he said, "very weary."[3] He died January 29, 1755[5][3] and is buried in the Old Village Cemetery.[6]

His son, who shared the name Samuel Dexter, served in the Great and General Court and on the Massachusetts Governor's Council.[7] His grandson, also named Samuel Dexter, served in the administrations of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Ministry

He preached for the first time on October 15, 1722 and was called to minister at the First Church and Parish in Dedham in the fall of 1723.[3] His call was opposed by some in the community, but it was for primarily political reasons, not necessarily theological ones.[2] He was ordained on May 6, 1724 and served until his death in 1755.[3]

During his ministry, several outlying areas of Dedham began to establish their own churches.[3] It was then that the church, which previously had been known as the Church of Christ, began to be called First Church in Dedham.[3] After the churches split his ministry was "calm and quiet," but before he did there were members of the community, whom he called "certain sons of ignorance and pride," who insulted him to his face.[3] Meetings were frequently called to correct the behavior of disorderly members and this led to an ecclesiastical council in July 1725.[3]

Notes

1. After Dexter's death, Catherine married Samuel Barnard of Salem. When Barnard died, she returned to Dedham and lived to the age of 95.[4]

References

1. Worthington 1827, p. 105.
2. Lockridge 1985, p. 109.
3. Smith 1936, p. 74.
4. Smith 1936, p. 75.
5. Worthington 1827, p. 108.
6. Smith 1936, p. 144.
7. Smith 1936, p. 7.

Works cited

• Lockridge, Kenneth (1985). A New England Town. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-95459-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Worthington, Erastus (1827). The history of Dedham: from the beginning of its settlement, in September 1635, to May 1827. Dutton and Wentworth. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
• Smith, Frank (1936). A History of Dedham, Massachusetts. Transcript Press, Incorporated. Retrieved July 18, 2019.