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Page 42 of 1881
Congregational Church of Hopkinton, Massachusetts
Founded in 1724
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Seven of the original members of the church were Scotch Presbyterians, and five others soon after joined. [Note William Montgomery as a founding member. John Harper would marry one of Williams' daughters, Abigail in 1727. Nothing had been said at the outset about a form of church government, so the Scotch Presbyterians could conscientiously assent to the covenant and unite in Christian communion. On April 9th, 1731, the church voted "to comply with the Platform of Church Discipline agreed to by the Synod of Churches assembled at Cambridge, 1649, as the rule of their discipline, so far as they apprehended it to be agreeable to the Word of God." With this vote, the Congregational Church of Hopkinton gave great offense to the Presbyterians. About ten families withdrew from the communion of the church. They were brought under discipline and eventually several of them excommunicated. [Note those names with "ex." after their name. In 1734, they organized a Presbyterian church, built a small meeting-house about one and one-half miles west of the village, near what is known as the Ellery place. Subsequently, on the removal of many of these families to Blandford, this church organization was, by consent of Presbytery, transferred to that town, where it existed till 1800.
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