Genealogical notes of Barnstable families - citizen hylbom blog

GENEALOGICAL NOTES OF BAKNSTABLE FAMILIES. 193
of a meetiDg house. Mr. Hatherly and Mr. Gibson had good estates
; but most of the other settlers were poor men, and relied on
their own strong arms for success in life.
The church had increased in members and strength. Aug. 13,
1635, after a "day of humiliation," Henry Cobb was elected the
first deacon of the church, and on the 15th of December following
"was invested into the office," that is, ordained, as all officers
were, with prayer, and by the imposition of the hands of the elders
and brethren.
In 1636 the town rapidly increased in population. Mr. Lothrop's
old friends scattered in various towns, sold out their estates and
removed to Scitnate. The increase gave strength to the plantation ;
but it brought with it much privation and suffering. The people
were also anxious to procure "helpes in the ministry," their first and
their last care ; and they feared that the Indians on their borders
would prove treacherous. To avert these threatening calamities
Friday, April 7, 1636, was observed as a day of humiliation.
The congregation had at this time so largely increased that
there was no building in the town sufHeiently spacious for its accommodation.
Notwithstanding their poverty, and the scarcity
that prevailed, they resolved to build a meeting house. On the
2d and 3d days of August the frame was raised, and it was completed
and dedicated Thursday, Nov. 10, 1636. The following
day a fast was held at the meeting house "for a blessing upon
their consultation
Patent."
aboute the Lawes for settling the
*
State of this
Connected with the last record there is a statement that some
difference of opinion existed among the members, which were by
the mercy of God reconciled April
the members differed is not stated.
27, 1637. On what subject
We may however infer what
caused the difficulty by the text from which Mr. Lothrop taught
on that day : "And Abram said unto Lot, let there be no strife,
I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and
thy herdsmen, for we are brethren." Gen. 13 :8. This text furnishes
the key that unlocks the door.
The raising of stock was then the most profitable business
pursued in the Colony. Many in England had sent over cattle,
and put them out for half the increase. It was a business that
required no capital, and the poor could successfully compete with
the rich. The quantity of meadow land was limited, and the capacity
of the country for keeping cattle and horses depended on
the amount of fodder that could be laid up for winter. As each
claimed an equal right in the meadows, dissentions naturally arose
"between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen." We find them complaining
at this early period that the "place was too straite for
them." The meaning of this is, there was but little cleared land
in Scituate adapted to the raising of grain, and though there was