JOHN MAXSON SR

• Death Notes
  • John Maxson-
    Maxson, John
    Birth : Mar 1639 Aquidneck, Rhode Island
    Death : 17 Dec 1720 Westerly, Washington Co, Rhode Island
    
    (1639-1720)
    
    

• General Notes
  • JOHN MAXSON, SENIOR
    
    In 1643 his wife is mentioned as "Goodwife Maxson, widow of Richard Maxson." It is supposed that he and his son Richard were killed by Indians, that his widow escaped, with others, in an open boat, and that her son John was born soon afterward, in 1638. Several authorities state that he was the first white child born on the island of Rhode Island. In 1661 John joined a company formed at Newport for the purchase and Settlement of the tract of land called Misquanicut.
    
    
    (2) John Maxson, born in 1638. Married Mary, the daughter of Hugh Mosher, who was also one of the purchasers of Misquanicut. She was born in 1640. Soon after settling in Mesquanicut, John and Mary Maxson embraced the Sabbath, and joined the church at Newport. When the Westerly congregation was set off as a separate church he was ordained to be its first pastor and served until his death, December 17, 1720. His wife died February 2, 1718. They had seven children, Tacy, John Jr., Joseph, and Jonathan, Dorothy, Mary, and Hannah.
    
    John Maxson, Sr., represented Westerly in the Colonial Assembly in 1670, 1686, 1687, 1688, 1689, 1690, 1693, 1705. He and his wife were buried in the Clarke burying ground, near the old meeting house. His grave was marked with a blue slate stone, upon which was the following inscription: "Here lieth the body of John Maxson, died Dec. ye 17, 1720, in the 82nd year of his age." In 1884 their remains were removed to the "Circle".
    
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    The advocates of the true Sabbath look with a dignified pride to the example of great and good men who have sustained the banner of truth, through trials and sufferings, from generation to generation, till the time when that faith was planted on the shores of America. Beginning coeval with the establishment of civilization on this continent, they were made partakers of many hardships and perils, to which they, as founders of their church organization here, were peculiarly exposed. They were nevertheless earnest, practical, God-fearing men; no mad enthusiasts, crazed with new doctrines, and following in misguided zeal each ignis fatuus that flickered in the religious atmosphere. For, having been thought liberality by persecution, and steadfastness by suffering, they were at once good citizens and exalted Christians.
    
    Among them was the subject of the present sketch, the first leading Elder of the Seventh-day Baptist Church in Westerly, R.I. His parents came from England, and were among the earliest settlers of New England, and also among the first who attempted a landing on the shores of Connecticut.
    
    The party with which they were connected made a temporary settlement, it is supposed, near Throg’s Neck, hence for some time after called Maxson’s Point. They carried on a trade with the Indians, and prospered, until about the time of the breaking out of the Pequod War, in 1637, when the Indians who surrounded them, instigated probably by emissaries from the Pequods, suddenly abstained from intercourse with [page 50] the settlers. Upon their sending to the natives to inquire why they did not come in as usual to trade, they received answer, that they feared their dogs, which they allowed to go unconfined, but that if they would shut them up, they would come in again. The unsuspecting colonists, blinded by their apparent good will, complied with the condition; and their watchful sentinels once confined, the savages made an attack upon the settlement, and drove the whites to their shallop. A portion of them landing in a boat the next day, to procure more provisions and produce from their gardens, were again attacked, and Mr. Maxson and his son Richard were killed. Mrs. Maxson escaped with the survivors in the shallop, and after a long and tedious passage, landed on the island of Aquetneck, the nearest place on the coast at that time free from danger of the hostile Indians; where, soon after landing, John was born. This was in the spring of 1638; and as the island was purchased of the Sachems Miantonimoh and Canonicus on the 24th of March of that year, and settled by the English immediately thereafter, Mrs. Maxson remained there, and devoted herself to the support and education of her son. Mr. Maxson, thus has the distinction of being the first white child born on the island of Rhode Island, or Aquetneck as it was then called.
    
    This is the substance of the family traditions, and we regret that they do not give us more knowledge of the Christian mother and heroine. We would have been glad at least to have known that she lived to be repaid for all her sorrows and privations by seeing her son advanced to the great usefulness and consideration to which he attained. Oh, how the great usefulness and consideration to which he attained. Oh, how dear that hope to the heart of the Christian mother, and how supreme the joy at its fulfillment! Then and by that only are the toils, the pains and anxieties of the past recompensed, and the subdued and grateful heart rests a moment in the purest happiness earth can give, ere it passes hopefully, trustingly, yet tremblingly, to the final rest. Who but the Omniscient can read that holiest page in humanity’s record - - the heart of the Christian mother, sanctified by privation, hallowed by suffering, and finding its highest, only, and sufficient reward in the fulfillment of the noblest duty God has appointed to it. None other than herself can comprehend it. The matron who, in the appliances of wealth and ease, has reared her children, as she has not known the trials, neither can she know the rapture of the sorrow-stricken soul winning its way to the throne of God by its trustful humility, and there rendering back its improved talent. Such a return was the son of that widowed mother an energetic, earnest, useful man.
    
    [page 51] In 1661, Mr. Maxson, then twenty-three years old, joined a company which was formed at Newport for the purchase and settlement of a portion of the Narragansett country, called by the Indians Misquamicut, as appears from the records of the company. The articles of agreement were signed on the 22nd of March, 1661, and Mr. Maxson soon after removed to the new settlement, which thence became the scene of his labors. He was married to Mary Mosher, the daughter or sister of Hugh Mosher, one of the purchasers of Misquamicut, whose name is among those recorded in the Rhode Island Historical Society’s Collection.
    
    We have no other information respecting Mr. Maxson until the year 1692. In the mean time the colony had generally embraced the views of the Seventh-day Baptists, and had connected themselves with the church in Newport, of which William Hiscox was pastor; and John Crandall, who before that time was an elder of the First Baptist Church, became a colleague, residing in Westerly. Meetings were held weekly at Westerly, and church meetings were alternately held there and at Newport. Yearly or "general Meetings" were also established, and were attended in alternation at Westerly and Newport.
    
    It is not known precisely at what time Mr. Maxson became a member of this church. The first entry in the existing book of church records is under date of July 3d, 1692, and the next is of July 30th, at which John Maxson, Jr., and his wife Judith, were admitted to membership of the church. His daughter Tacy was added on the 24th of September following. On the 24th of January, 1694, Joseph was baptized; and on the 23d of July, 1710, Jonathan submitted to the ordinance. He was probably the youngest son of the Elder, being born about 1680, and died in 1732.
    
    Mr. Maxson took an active interest in the church, and was often appointed to act as messenger to delinquent members or distant brethren. He evidently had the advancement of true religion much at heart, and delighted in the service of his Divine Master, while his holy and blameless life, giving him an eminent degree that influence which was calculated to harmonize conflicting views, and allay all unkindly feeling among those around him, he was enabled, according to his desires, to do much towards the building up of Zion. His brethren, recognizing the value of his labors, desired to call him to the office of the church; and at a church meeting held at his house on the 15th of 9th month, 1703, "Mr. Maxson was desired by the church to officiate in the dis- [page 52] pensing of the ordinance of breaking bread in Bro. Gibson’s absence, which he did accept."
    
    In 1708 the church was divided, and the members residing in and about Westerly were formed into a separate church, when according to the records of the new church, "taking into consideration the necessity, as also our privilege and duty, by the authority of God’s word, that one be chosen to the place and office of an elder to the congregation in and about Westerly, it is agreed and desired, that our aged brother John Maxson, Sen., be the person." And by another paragraph we are informed that "on the 20th of the same month our beloved brother John Maxson, Sen., was ordained to the place and office of an elder to the congregation in and about Westerly, by fasting and prayer and laying on of hands."
    
    Mr. Maxson was then at the advanced age of 70 years, an elder indeed, ripe in judgment and good works, tried and found worthy, not a mere book-taught ecclesiastic, but a practical leader of the church militant. He continued, even at this great age, to perform the duties of an elder, and seemed particularly desirous of stirring up the gifts of the church, that the order of the Gospel might not be interrupted, and that efficient officers of the church might be ready to succeed in the place of those who were ready to depart. His anxiety on this subject was deeply impressed upon the minds of the leading members, and a response was made which enabled him, on the 12th of 10th month, 1710, to submit the following resolution: -
    
    "Whereas, it hath pleased Almighty God, of his goodness, grace, and mercy, to endow several brethren with the gifts of his Spirit to the edification of the church, therefore, each and every one of the said gifted brethren be requested to exercise their gifts in the church of their privilege and duty, that the church might be partakers of the same."
    It was therefore agreed, that "the Elder, with William Davis and John Maxson, Jr., should improve the next Sabbath; the Elder, with Joseph Clarke, Jr., and George Stillman, should improve the Sabbath following; and the Elder, with Joseph Clarke, Sen., and Joseph Crandall, the next Sabbath after them; and so on successively till the church order otherwise; provided always, that if any brother be pressed in his spirit by the Spirit of God, and moved thereby to speak, the aforesaid brethren in their order and succession shall not obstruct or hinder such brother."
    But the infirmities of age could could [sic] not be resisted entirely, even by his zealous spirit. The voice that had proclaimed the lessons of wisdom to the children of God, was beginning to falter; and on the [page 53] 26th of June, 1712, Elder Maxson requested the congregation to make choice of a person from among them to take the place of an elder of the church, alledging [sic] his age and consequent inability to serve the congregation as her formerly had done. The church selected Joseph Clarke, Jr., as a candidate for the sacred office, and appointed a meeting for the 9th of the next month to determine the choice. At this meeting, Mr. Clarke having consented, the church appointed the 21st of August for the ordination, when he was ordained an elder and colleague of Eld. Maxson. John Maxson, Jr., was at the same time ordained a deacon. The church at this time consisted of about 130 members.
    
    In 1716, Eld. Maxson proposed to the church to resign his office, on account of his age; but the church not considering the office revokable, or that they had power to release him from it for that reason, refused to accept his resignation. They however proposed to appoint a colleague, and an additional number of deacons, in order to relieve him from as much of the burthen as might be. Eld. Joseph Clarke, his colleague, died June 5th, 1719, when they proposed John Maxson, Jr., as an elder, to take the charge as senior elder, and nominated William Tanner, Jos. Maxson, and Benj. Burdick, as deacons. These brethren declined the office of deacon, on the ground that none ought to be appointed deacons who had not the gifts for an elder, which they considered themselves not to have. Whereupon Thomas Hiscox was appointed to the office of deacon, which he accepted, and in 1719 was chosen an elder, making at this time three elders, viz. John Maxson, Sen., John Maxson, Jr., and Thomas Hiscox.
    
    Mr. Maxson lost the venerable partner of his life’s journey on the 2nd of February, 1718, in her 78th year. For about half a century they had traveled hand in hand, and the fulfillment of all the promises to the righteous had been theirs; and when the old man, surrounded by the children of their joy, followed her to the tomb, for a short separation, we will not believe that the so near approach of death chilled one degree more his blood; but now, in the twilight of life, as the earth darkened around him, heaven grew brighter and more desirable; and as day passes into night, he also sank peacefully to rest on the 17th of December, 1720, aged 82 years. He was buried in the Clarke burying-ground, near the Pawcatuck river, in view of the old site of the Hopkinton meeting-house, where, upon a blue slate-stone, is the following inscription: -
    
    "Here lieth the body of John Maxson, died Dec.ye 17, 1720, in the 82nd year of his age.
    
    Copied from an original copy of Volume 1, No. 2, April, 1852, pp 49-58, of the Seventh-Day Baptist Memorial, a quarterly magazine, devoted to biography, history, and statistics. Published in New York, by the Seventh-Day Baptist Publishing Society, No. 9 Spruce Street.
     
    
    In 1661 John Maxson with others formed a company at Newport for purchasing and settling a tract of land called by the Indians Misquamcut which now comprises Westerly, Charlestown, and Hopkinton, R.I. He was married about 1665 and was made freeman at Westerly Oct. 29, 1668. He served as deputy to the general assembly from Westerly 1670, 1686, 1690, and 1705. He was overseer of the poor in 1687. The colony of Westerly had connected itself as a branch to the Nowport Seventh Day Baptist Church of which William Hiscox was pastor. John Maxson was a member of this branch church before 1692. In 1708 the Westerly branch was made a separate church. Sept. 20, 1708 John Maxson Sr. was ordained to the office of Elder (pastor) to the congregation in and about Westerly, now called the First Hopkinton S.D.B.C. at Ashway, R.I.
    
    John Maxson made his will Jan. 22, 1716 which was probated Feb. 16, 1721. He was buried in the Clark burying ground near the Paytucket River where on a slate stone was the following inscription: "Here lieth the body of John Maxson, died Dec. 17, 1720 in the 82nd year of his life." The early ministers of the First Hopkinton church have been reinterred on the spot where the church stood and a monument has been erected to their memory.
    
    John was the first Caucasian child born in Aquetneck, Portsmouth, Rhode Island.