Thomas Thatcher (1756 – October 19, 1812) was the third minister of the West Church of

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...

Personal life

Thatcher was born in Boston in 1756 and was graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1775. Thatcher never married. His father was Oxenbridge Thatcher and he had a brother, Peter. Thatcher was a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. He was, along with Fisher Ames, a delegate to the convention that ratified the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

Ministry

He served in the West Church from June 7, 1780 to his death on October 19, 1812. He donated money and land to the church. He was a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

and often preached this political philosophy to his congregation. During his pastorate, the meetinghouse was pulled down and a new one was erected. Thatcher was frequently asked to give guest sermons in other churches, including one on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

in Dedham's Anglican church, of which 20 were published. In 1800, Colburn Gay of Dedham wished to marry Sarah Ellis of Walpole. The laws at the time said that a wedding must take place in the town of the bride, however Gay insisted that Thatcher preside. Thatcher was the minister in Dedham's third parish, however, and could not officiate outside of the town's borders. To resolve this dilemma the couple stood on the Walpole side of Bubbling Brook, and Thatcher stood on the Dedham side. They were married across the stream and had two children before Sarah died in 1810. After Jason Fairbanks was hung for murdering his girlfriend in front of a crowd of 10,000, Thatcher published a sermon in which he wondered if Fairbanks' hanging and the "riot and confusion" at the end of the day were caused by a hellish legion "of obstreperous, incarnate fiends, who paraded the streets of this peaceful village."

Legacy

A street in

Westwood, Massachusetts Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,266 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. History Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of Dedham, originally called 'West De ...

is named for him.

References

Works cited

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, Thomas category:Clergy from Boston category:Clergy from Dedham, Massachusetts category:1756 births category:1812 deaths Harvard College alumni