A distinguished preacher of Universalism in the United States, born in Alton, county of Hampshire, England, on the 10th of December, 1741.
When he had attained his eleventh year, the family removed to Ireland, in the vicinity of Cork. While here, he was converted to Methodism, and gained the attention of John Wesley, by whom he was appointed a class-leader. He was very earnest and devout in his religious exercises, and was regarded by his brethren as a valuable accession to their church. About this time his father died, and he shortly after left Ireland for England. He took up his residence in London, and was gradually led into gay society. The secret monitor, however, frequently reproached him, and finally brought him back again to the services of the sanctuary, and quickened the flame of religious devotion. At this time his prejudices against Universalism were very strong; his soul “kindled with indignation” against them. But, shortly after his marriage to a very amiable young lady of London, he was induced to visit Mr. Relly's chapel, the preacher of universal salvation; and, notwithstanding he had been so filled with wrath against Mr. Relly, that, as he subsequently said, he thought it would have been doing both God and man service [pg 424] to kill him, yet he was moved to tenderness by his preaching and subsequently became an attendant on his ministry. Rich were the consolations enjoyed by him and his amiable wife in their new faith. But great sorrows awaited him; she sickened and died; and the death-scene is described by himself, in his autobiography, with thrilling effect. He would gladly have accompanied her to the spirit-world. He was now alone; he felt himself a solitary being; he had no taste for the joys of life; his mind dwelt only on death and eternity; he was unfitted for society; and in this state of mind, Providence seems to have directed his thoughts to America. He resolved to embark; and, in the month of September, 1770, he landed upon the shores of New Jersey. Here he became at once acquainted with a philanthropic landholder, by the name of Thomas Potter, who, in the belief that God would send him a preacher, had erected a meeting-house, and who insisted that Murray was the man whom God had sent. In this house Murray commenced his labors as a preacher; and from this time, he is to be contemplated as the public advocate of Universalism, on the system of Relly. He soon visited the city of New York, and various other cities and towns in the Middle States, preaching the gospel whithersoever he went. His first visit to Boston was made in October, 1773, and his second in September, 1774. It was during this second visit that he was stoned in the pulpit of Rev. Mr. Croswell, in School Street. About this time he visited Gloucester, Massachusetts, which was afterwards his residence for many years. In 1775, he was appointed by General Washington chaplain to the Rhode Island troops, in the army then lying around Boston. He soon, however, returned to his charge in Gloucester, where he remained, making frequent visits to different parts of the United States, until October, 1793, when he was ordained pastor of the First Universalist Society in Boston, which had purchased the house of worship formerly occupied by the society of Dr. Samuel Mather. His labors were not confined to this society, however; in one respect he was a minister at large; [pg 425] he continued his itinerant habits, more or less, until October, 1809, when he was stricken with the palsy. He lived nearly six years after this affliction, and expired on the third day of September, 1815. He was buried in the Granary burying-ground, where his remains were suffered to lie unhonored until 1837, when they were removed to Mount Auburn, and a monument was erected to his memory. The monument is a beautiful fluted column, surmounted by an urn. It is encircled by a belt, or tablet, on which two inscriptions are placed; on one side—
“JOHN MURRAY, Preacher of the Gospel; born in Alton, England, December 10, 1741; died in Boston, September 3, 1815; reëntombed beneath this stone, June 8, 1837.”
On the opposite side—
“Erected at the recommendation of the United States General Convention of Universalists.”
Elhanan Winchester.
A distinguished advocate of Universalism, born in Brookline, Massachusetts, September 30, 1751. In his nineteenth year, he was converted, under the preaching of the Baptists; and it was by his labors that the present Baptist society in Newton was originally gathered. In the autumn of 1774, he made a journey to the Southern States. Early in 1778, he first saw Siegvolk's “Everlasting Gospel,” a work which originally appeared in Holland, but which had been translated and published by the Mennonites of Pennsylvania. It made a very deep impression upon his mind. In 1779, he came back to New England, his convictions of the truth of Universalism increasing upon him daily. He set out on his return to South Carolina in the autumn of 1780, and arrived at Philadelphia on the 7th of October. Here he intended to remain but a few days; but God evidently had a great work for him to do in this place. Even his enemies acknowledged [pg 426] that his “manner of preaching was popular, his address very fascinating, and his appearance dignified and commanding.” The Baptist church in that city invited him to tarry and preach to them, and he at length consented. About this time he read “Stonehouse on Universal Restitution,” which served to confirm him greatly in his belief of that doctrine. Notwithstanding his great popularity, a discontent began to show itself in certain members of the church. He foresaw that a storm was rising, and he determined to prepare for it; not (to use his words) “by denying what I had said, but by more fully examining, and determining for myself, whether the sentiment was according to Scripture, or not. If I found it was not, I was determined to retract; but if it was, to hold it fast, let the consequences be what they might.” Such was his truly Christian resolution. He avowed his belief in the final happiness of all men.
A majority of the church were in his favor; but, being a man of remarkably peaceful disposition, he did not urge them to press their claims to the meeting-house; but they retired to the hall of the university, where they held their meetings for about four years, until they purchased a place for themselves. During the rest of his life, he is to be viewed as the public advocate of universal restitution. There were several eminent men who adhered to him, and among others, Dr. Redman, and the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Rush, who remained his correspondent when he was in Europe. Added to all his other troubles, his domestic afflictions were very great. At the age of thirty-two, he had buried four wives. The fifth was a desperate fury, who gave him great trouble as long as he lived. After preaching about six years in Philadelphia, he was seized with an irresistible impulse to visit England. No persuasions could divert him from the purpose; and in September, 1787, he arrived, almost penniless, and a total stranger, in the great metropolis of the British empire. He preached in different parts of London, and, by his fervid eloquence and earnest defence of the restoration, he soon gathered a congregation, who took for him the [pg 427] chapel in Parliament Court, in which he held his meetings until his departure for America. He spent six years and a half in this country, laboring assiduously to bring men to the knowledge of the truth; and a deep and wide impression was made by his labors. In consequence of the ill treatment he experienced from his wife, he was obliged to leave her; and he quitted England privately, and came home, filling the friends whom he had left behind with amazement, being ignorant at first what had befallen him. He arrived in Boston in July, 1794. Various were the speculations in this country in regard to his return. But he commenced at once his labors as a preacher, travelling in several of the states,—visited his former friends in Philadelphia, where he was joined by his wife, who had come home to America, and whom he freely forgave. It became evident, about this time, that his health was greatly impaired; and an increasing asthma foretold a fatal termination. He came to Hartford, Connecticut, in October, 1796, and raised a congregation, to which he preached until he could preach no more. In April, 1797, he delivered a sermon, under a strong presentiment that it was his last, from St. Paul's farewell address to the elders of the Ephesian church. He never entered the desk again. He contemplated his death with serenity and joy. On the morning of his decease, he commenced singing the hymn with several of his friends,—“Farewell, my friends in Christ below,” but his voice soon faltered, and the torpor of death fell on him. His friends became disconcerted, and ceased to sing; but he revived a little, and encouraged them to go on, joining in the first line of each verse, until his voice was actually “lost in death.” This was on the 18th of April, 1797, in the 47th year of his age. His funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Dr. Strong, of Hartford, who bore a frank testimony to Mr. Winchester's excellent character, and his final constancy in the doctrine he had preached.
The following is the inscription on the stone erected to his memory:—