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and published many times. Initially the poem was published in 1732 in the
Gentleman's Magazine (June) and the London Magazine (August). It was continued to be republished by the Massachusetts Magazine in November, 1794. The name Abbey was a misnomer for Matthew Abdy, a custodian of the town, and
582:
Rev. Joseph
Seccombe. Business and Diversion, inoffensive to God and necessary to the Comfort and Support of human society: A discourse utter'd in Part at Ammaukeeg Falls in the Fishing Season, 1739. Boston: Pirnted for S. Kneeland and T. Green in Queen Street, 1743. Reprint 1892, 8 Vo.
620:
A sermon preached at
Halifax, July 3, 1770, at the Ordination of the Rev. Bruin Romeas Comingoe. To the Dutch Calvanistic Presbyterian Congregation at Lunenburg ... Being the first preached in the Province of Nova Scotia, on such an occasion. To which is added an
603:
Gwendolyn Davies, "Poet to Pulpit to
Planter: The Peregrinations of the Reverend John Seccombe", in Margaret Conrad, ed., Making Adjustments: Change and Continuity in Planter Nova Scotia 1759-1800 (Fredericton, 1991), p..
19:
637:
A sermon, occasioned by the death of Mrs. Margaret Green; consort of the late
Honourable Benjamin Green, esq; delivered at Halifax, in the province of Nova-Scotia, February 1st, 1778 (Halifax,
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A sermon occasioned by the death of the
Honorable Abigail Belcher, late consort of Jonathan Belcher, esq . . . delivered at Halifax . . . October 20, 1771 with an
86:
As an author, Seccombe’s best known work is “Father Abbey’s will” (1732), which became famous throughout New
England. The poem is a 15 stanza nonsense verse, which was turned into a
79:, where he stayed for 25 years (1733 -1757). While at Harvard, he built the "grandest house" in Harvard at the centre of town and a cottage on one of the two largest islands in
91:
the poem listed an inventory of Abdy's estate. The poetic composition was first published in Weekly
Rehearsal (Boston, Mass.), 3 Jan. 1732. He was re-published in the
201:
Cahill, Barry, "The
Sedition Trial of Timothy Houghton: Repression in a Marginal New England Planter Township during the Revolutionary Years". XXIV, 1 (Autumn 1994), p.39
95:
and London
Magazine (October 1732) and continued to be re-published throughout the 18th and 19th century. The song was anthologized in Louis Untermeyer's
221:
141:, in 1776, along with other members of St. Matthew's Church, Seccombe was arraigned by the Nova Scotia Council for having American patriot sympathies.
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127:
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183:
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George T. Goodspeed. "Father Abbey's Will". Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Third Series, Vol. 73 (1961), pp. 18–37
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63:
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537:
712:
683:
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344:
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A Manual of American Literature: A Text-Book for Schools and Colleges By Hart (John Seely), John Seely Hart, 1873, p.52
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83:(now named Ministers Island). (He sold the house to Henry Bromfield in 1765. His house in Harvard burned in 1854.)
616:,” ed. C. B. Fergusson, PANS Report (Halifax), 1959, app.B, 18–45 (the original is in PANS, MG 1, 797C);
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New England Life in the Eighteenth Century: Representative Biographies from ... By Clifford Kenyon Shipton, p. 286
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and was “the best-known and most highly respected clergyman in Nova Scotia.” He was also the author of
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People of the Wachusett: Greater New England in History and Memory, 1630-1860 By David Jaffee p. 174
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Having served 33 years in Chester, Seccombe died at his home on Seccombes Island, west of Chester.
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292:"History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Embracing a Comprehensive History of the County from"
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indicated that Seccombe "had an extraordinary notoriety" in America's early literary history.
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126:(1761). He built a home at Pleasant Point, seven miles from Chester. He also preached at
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586:
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51:, the poem "was one of the best comic poems of that day." As a result of the poem, the
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over 30 times throughout the 18th century in England and America. According to the
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in Halifax. He ordained the first Presbyterian minister in British North America
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472:
Evert Augustus Duyckinck. Cyclopedia of American Literature, 1855. Vol.1, p. 127
330:
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Evert Augustus Duyckinck. Cyclopedia of American Literature, Vol.1, p. 127
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Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 2d ser. V.4 1887/89
75:(1728) and then became the first congregational minister of the town of
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24:
106:. In 1745, he created upheaval in his community by sponsoring Rev.
62:
18:
672:. Boston, etc., New England Historic Genealogical Society. 1847.
35:(25 April 1708 – 27 October 1792) was an author, a founder of
16:
18th Century New England/Canadian clergyman and comic poet
684:"A vindication of the divinity of Jesus Christ, a sermon"
527:
Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society, p. 164
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Father Abby's Will. edited by John Langley Sibley. 1854.
269:
History of the Town of Harvard, Massachusetts 1732-1893
670:"The New England historical and genealogical register"
272:. Clinton, Massachusetts: Warren Hapgood. p. 178
137:
In the wake of the American patriot rebellion in the
134:. In 1769, Seccombe baptized slaves at St. Matthews.
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Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
144:He went on to write the eulogies for the wives of
459:"Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society"
648:Father Abbey's Will. Massuachetts Magazine. 1794
568:. Halifax, N.S. Royal Print. & Litho. 1922.
405:Bits Of Harvard History by Samuel F. Batchelder
102:In 1736, he married the grand daughter of Rev.
67:John Seccombe's mansion, Harvard, Massachusetts
8:
566:"Place-names of the Province of Nova Scotia"
233:Music in Colonial Massachusetts, pp. 344-347
369:Grave of Blomfield's freed slave and friend
118:He left Massachusetts and helped establish
608:John Seccombe. Father Abbey’s will. (1732)
306:"Bare Hill Pond | Town of Harvard MA"
554:. Massachusetts Historical Society. 1835.
438:Image of woodcut from Father Abbey's will
661:
194:
255:A History of American Literature, p.46
184:Nova Scotia in the American Revolution
27:, Cambridge publisher. December, 1791
7:
614:The diary of Rev. John Seccombe
43:, which was printed as a poem and a
211:Canadian Biography - John Seccombe
14:
93:Gentlman's Magazine, May 2, 1732
718:Canadian Presbyterian ministers
448:See European Magazine, May 1781
170:namesake of Ministers Island,
53:History of American Literature
1:
587:Seccombe - Canadian Biography
166:Seccombes Island, Nova Scotia
49:Manual of American Literature
653:Image - Father's Abby's Will
505:Bruin Romkes Comingo. p. 281
744:
538:Place names of Nova Scotia
345:"The New England magazine"
383:. Boston, D. Clapp. 1872.
266:Nourse, Henry S. (1894).
461:. Worcester, Mass. 1898.
174:, Harvard, Massachusetts
139:Siege of Fort Cumberland
631:Mather Byles (loyalist)
728:History of Nova Scotia
723:Harvard College alumni
633:(Boston, Mass., 1772);
77:Harvard, Massachusetts
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59:Harvard, Massachusetts
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596:Second Series, iv, 70
294:. C. F. Jewett. 1879.
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23:Father Abbey's Will.
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132:Bruin Romkes Comingo
128:St. Matthew’s Church
120:Chester, Nova Scotia
114:Chester, Nova Scotia
97:Early American Poets
37:Chester, Nova Scotia
713:Canadian male poets
394:Description of home
71:Seccombe graduated
41:Father Abbey's Will
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331:"Henry Bromfield"
108:George Whitefield
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33:John Seccombe
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274:. Retrieved
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164:namesake of
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708:1792 deaths
703:1708 births
697:Categories
583:p. 36
189:References
110:to speak.
45:broadsheet
621:Appendix.
276:7 October
179:See also
99:(2001).
686:. 1789.
627:epistle
604:189-97.
347:. 1887.
25:woodcut
516:p. 134
494:p. 238
319:p. 238
159:Legacy
577:Texts
122:with
31:Rev.
358:p.13
278:2018
148:and
629:by
427:p.6
699::
152:.
612:“
333:.
308:.
280:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
