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- Copy of old Letter, Mary Rawson second daughter of Rev. Grindall Rawson born June 22, 1699, m arried April 9, 1724, to Rev. Joseph Dorr her father's successor in the m inistry at Mendon. He graduated at Harvard College 1711. Settled in M endon 1716, died March 9, 1768 in 79th year of his age. His epitaph in forms us that he was endued with good sense, his temper was mild and pl acid, he excelled in the virtues if meekness, patience, temperance, sob riety, gravity, benevolence, and charity- was a good scholar advances D ivine and exemplary Christian. JOSEPH DORR Joseph Dorr, second minister of Mendon, MA., was one of the younger chi ldren of Edward and Elizabeth (Hawley) Dorr of Roxbury. The father has b een called "the Reverend" but there is no evidence that he was anything m ore than a respected citizen and a member of the church of Roxbury. Jo seph did not take up residence at the College until the beginning of th e sophomore year of his Class. He achieved neither honors nor notable c ensures although he was fined in every quarter of his junior year. Per haps this fairly good record can be laid to Joseph Sewall (A.D. 1707), a n older student, who recorded in his diary: "God helped me to perform w hat (If I Mistake not I have attempted once & Again, i.e..,) To Speak t o Dorr of his Soul's concern to exhort him earnestly to give himself to C hrist." Dorr took his first degree in due course, but got into difficu lties when he came up for the M.A. three years later. He submitted an a ffirmative answer to the Question, " An Essential Rerun sint aeternae?" t he religious implications of which do not seem to have troubled the col lege authorities. But over in Boston Judge Sewall was distressed, and t ook the matter in his parson, Ebenezer Pemberton (A. B. 1691). Mr. Pemberton seemed to approve of it. When he did not explain it t o my satisfaction; He said, I have for got my Philosophy. Upon my ment ioning Divinity, He said, There was nothing of Divinity in it. This he s poke with an air of displeasure. I came away, Meeting Mr. Remington (J onathan, A. B. 1696) in the street I told him of it, and desired him to s peak to the president; and by Mr. Higginson next day I received a kind l etter from the President with a Master's Thesis in it corrected as it n ow stands. And the Question stands on the printed sheet as the affirmative of , " An Novitas essendi sit de ratione Creations?" As there is no evide nce that Dorr tool part in the exercises, he probably not asked to writ e a new essay. That same year, 1714 found Mr. Dorr keeping the school at Andover. D espite his Question he aimed to enter the ministry, and accepted an inv itation to preach at Mendon. There were troublesome Quakers in Mendon, b ut they were at least not addicted to scalping as were the Indians who t errified Andover schoolmasters. The young preacher satisfied the churc h members, and at the town meeting of February 9, 1715/16, it was " pro posed to the Town to Bring in their votes for Their Concurrence in the C hurch's choice of Rev. Joseph Dorr to Be Their Pastor, which was accord ingly Don and voted to be the Town's Minister." Two weeks later he and t he town fathers came to an agreement on the terms. Imprimis. That they will give him for a yearly salary The Sum of s eventy-five pounds per annum, after the first year & the first year sev enty pounds To be paid in money... 2nd. That they will give for Settlement or Encouragement the sum o f One hundred and sixty pounds, One hundred pounds in money... and Sixt y pounds to be paid in Labor & materials for and towards the building o f him an house amongst us... The ordination took place on February 25, 1716. It was not until April 9, 1724, that Mr. Dorr obtained a mistress f or his new house in the person of Mary, a daughter of his predecessor, t he Reverend Grindall Rawson, A. B. 1678. She was a happy choice, for " S he filled up the measure of her days with religion and devotion... was a t ender, courteous, affable and obliging disposition; confined not to her o ffices of kindness and respect to her family ... was such a friend as l oveth at all times, expressed by a constant series of doing good to all i n their varying circumstances." The Dorr's had four or five children, d epending on whether Katherine and Elizabeth were twins or a mistake in t he record. The only son, Joseph, was graduated in 1752. Mary became hi s wife of the Reverend Moses Taft (A. B. 1751), and Susannah, the secon d wife of Reverend Amariah Frost (A. B. 1740). While an increasing family and inflation were burdening the parson 's purse, the freeing of the Quakers and the Baptists from the necessit y of contributing to his salary and the separation from the church of M endon of what are now the First Churches of Bellingham, Uxbridge, Upton , Milford, and Blackstone were making it difficult for the church to me ets his needs. they did, however, from time to time take special contr ibutions and voter him supplementary sums sometimes as large as the sal ary itself. In general, he kept the affections of his parishioners by s uch acts of kindness as petitioning to the court for leniency for a lad y of the congregation who had violated the seventh commandment. It may Justly be Supposed that as the End of the law which is refo rmation is fully answered with respect to her with out the Execution of i t. These are therefore to Desire that She may with her Judges find as m uch Clemency and favour as can Consist with the Law. Mr. Dorr has been called a New-Light because he signed the Testimo ny and Advice of July 7, 1743, but his experiences during the Great Awa kening suggest that he was not New-Light enough for a large minority of h is congregation. Although his " temper was mild and placid," and " He e xcelled in the virtues of meekness, patience, temperance, sobriety, gra vity, benevolence, and charity," he was in some sort of ecclesiastical d ifficulty and appealing for advice to the Worcester association of mini sters in October, 1740. That the dissatisfied members of his congregat ion took a like step is shown by a resolution which he offered in the t own meeting of March 2, 1741. Gentleman, In as much as an opposing party in this Town have Obtained a j udgement of a Council Against the Minister of the Town, without a Trial , Relating to his administration viz: - of a Council Chosen by them Sel ves in so private a manner that the pastor of the Church had No Copy of t he Letters Missive until after the Letters were Sent out to the Churche s - If you judge that the Minister of this Town Ought to be defended ag ainst Such Proceedings and you will defend him Signify it by Lifting up y our hands. Gentlemen, if you will choose three persons as a Committee chosen b y the Church, or by that part of it that adheres to the Pastor to advis e and concur with them in the choice of a Council, if they shall think f it, to judge of the Result of the late Council Chosen by the opposite p arty here by lifting up your hands. The Parson retained the support of a majority, but " a great numbe r " of the dissatisfied appealed to the General Court on the grounds t hat Mr. Dorr would not abide by the results of their council and would d o nothing " to give the Petitioners reasonable satisfaction." As a con sequence the parish of mill River, later the town of Milford, was set u p. the strict theology of the new covenant suggests that the division w as not simply geographical. There was , however, no doubt cast upon Mr . Dorr. He was a man... of singular virtue, sobriety and temperance, a M an of good learning, polemical, political and divine, a father to his f amily, flock, and ministers, in the Vicinity: a faithful Minister ... a s trict adherent to the doctrines of grace ... (He) highly recommended th e examination of candidates, for the work of he ministry; preventive (i f possible) of the introduction of men unsound in the faith into the mi nistry, a great friend to our English Liberties, was much concerned for t he peace and good order of the Churches. ... It was in an effort to further these ends that he joined in the ga thering of the Mendon association of ministers, of which he was the fir st moderator. Through all these years Mr. Dorr carried on the entire work of the m inistry of Mendon without assistance than a few sermons from schoolmast er Samuel Terry (A. b. 1710) at a time when the parson was sick. Final ly, in April, 1767, the parish sent a committee to ask the old minister o n what terms he would retire. He replied: I have Duly Considered the S ame and accordingly Propose as follows, viz. Considering the difficulty y ou Labor under and to preserve peace a among your and to enable and enc ourage your to proceed with Unanimity and Cheerfulness to the Settlemen t of another Gospel minister, I find in myself a freedom to accept of t he Sum of Thirteen Pounds, Six Shillings and Eight pence, Lawful Money, A nnually, During my Natural Life, tho at the same time, as my Worldly Es tate is small, Labor dear and I am unable by reason of my great age and I nfirmities to manage my affairs to advantage, I am apprehensive that sa id sum will fall short of a Necessary Support, yet Considering the Long T erm of years I have Labored among you in the Gospel of Christ, I am Per suaded, my Brethren, you will not See me suffer Extreme want. On March 9, 1768, before the parish had called another minister un der this agreement, Mr. Dorr died, then being in the fifty-second year o f his service and the seventy-ninth of his age. His widow followed him o n April 9, 1776.
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Puffer Genealogy
1690 - 1768 (77 years)
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