1761 Octavo First Edition Pamphlet Sermon Preached At The Ordination Of Reverend Mr. Eliab Stone To The Pastoral Care Of The Second Church By Matthew Bridge-The Reverend Who Resembled George Washington

Importance: The Rev. Matthew Bridge was born in Lexington, July 18, 1721, and was the son of Matthew and Abigail Bridge, of that town. He descended from John Bridge, who settled early in Cambridge, and from his son Matthew, who married Anna Danforth, sister of Lt. Gov. Danforth, the original grantee of the territory of Framingham. Mr. Bridge was educated at Harvard College, where he graduated in 1741. He was at one time engaged as a teacher in Worcester. He was ordained minister of the First Parish in Framingham, Feb. 19, 1745-6, and married, soon after, Anne, daughter of the Rev. Daniel Perkins, of Bridgewater, by whom he had seven children, three of whom were sons. His ministry in this town, though disturbed at its commencement by serious dissensions, embarrassing to a young man, was marked by uniform firmness, and a spirit of conciliation, which ultimately reinstated, in a good measure, the peace and harmony of the church. Though not distinguished as a preacher, he is uniformly repr