Phillips Payson (1704–1778) was an American Congregationalist minister for the town of Walpole,

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

. He is the ancestor of many distinguished clergymen of New England.

History

Rev. Phillips Payson was born 29 February 1704 and baptized 12 March 1704 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, the son of Rev. Samuel Payson (d. 24 November 1721) and his wife Mary, the daughter of Elder Thomas Wiswall.A Genealogical Dictionary of The First Settlers of New England, Before 1692. Volume #3: Patch-Peacock.
By James Savage. Retrieved 30 April 2017 The Payson family originated from

Nazeing Nazeing is a village and parish in Essex, England. Within the parish are the separate settlements of Upper Nazeing, Middle Nazeing, and Lower Nazeing. The Prime Meridian passes to the west of Lower Nazeing. Location and topography Nazeing is ...

, England, first settling in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

as early as 1635. The Reverend is not the same person as his first cousin Phillips Payson who died young, the son of his uncle Rev. Edward Payson (d. 22 Aug 1732) and Elizabeth Phillips (b. 2 August 1665, dau. of Rev. Samuel Phillips, m. 7 November 1683, d. 1 October 1724). He received an A.B. 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 1724. He was an American Congregationalist minister in his home town of Dorchester from 1728. He competed for the position of senior minister, was one of three finalists at First Parish Church of Dorchester in 1729, but was not selected for ordination. Thereafter he was ordained the minister for the town of Walpole. On 17 November 1733 in Walpole, Suffolk County (since 1793 in Norfolk County), he married Anne Swift. The people of the town of Walpole were integral to the cause of liberty before and during the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. George Payson who served as a delegate of a Committee of Correspondence was possibly one of his sons. By his wife Anne Swift, his children included: *Phillips Payson aka

Samuel Phillips Payson Phillips Payson (January 18, 1736 – January 11, 1801) was an American Congregationalist minister who was the pastor for the town of Chelsea, Massachusetts from 1757 until his death. Payson is not the same man as Captain Samuel Payson who also ...

, H.C. 1754, D.D. *Seth Payson, H.C. 1777, D.D., who was father of: **Edward Payson, H. C. 1803, D. D., minister of

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. In 1834, twenty-two of his name, says Farmer, had been graduates at Harvard,

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and Dartmouth. Seven of the thirteen from Harvard were clergy. Rev. Phillips Payson is buried in the Rumney Marsh Burying Ground in

Revere, Massachusetts Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately from Downtown Crossing, downtown Boston. Founded as North Chelsea in 1846, it was renamed in 1871 after the American Revolutionary War Patriot (American Re ...

.Rumney Marsh Burying Ground
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References

1704 births 1778 deaths American clergy Clergy from Boston People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution Harvard College alumni People from Dorchester, Massachusetts 18th-century American clergy {{US-reli-bio-stub