The history of the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, By a committee of the Dorchester antiquarian and historical society ...

HISTORY OF DORCHESTER. 517
5th, 1733. (Her sister Elizabeth m. Rev. James
Stone, of Holliston, in 1731.A) " How many children he had," continues Mr. M., " I cannot tell; more,
I believe, than are recorded here. I can find onlyMary, b. Nov. 22d, 1734, d. Feb. 10, 1735; Phillips, b. Jan. 18, 1736; Samuel, b. April 26, 1738;
George, b. Dec. 27, 1741, d. Jan. 31, 1742; George,
b. May 24, 1744; John, b. Jan. 6, 1746; Seth, b.
Sept. 30, 1758.t Mr. Payson died January 22d,
1778," having been in the ministry there more than
forty-seven years.
Mr. Merrick further writes: " I hardly ever knew
a man occupying a public place so long, of whom
so little was known. There are no traditions extant
of his manners, appearance, or mode of preaching.
The house in which he lived is still occupied, pretty
much in form and looks as it might have been a half
century or more ago."
Four of his sons were settled ministers, viz.:Phillips, who graduated at Harvard College in 1754,
was ordained at Chelsea the 26th of October, 1757,
died the 11th of January, 1801; Samuel, who graduated at Harvard College in 1758, was ordained at
Lunenburg in September, 1762, but died of an
atrophy in February, 1763, aged 24;. John, who
graduated at Harvard College in 1764, was ordained
at Fitchburg, as their first minister, the 27th of Jan* See Barry's " Framingham," p. 415.
t As there is a wide interval between the births of the last two children, Seth may have been the son of a second wife.
$ The town of Lunenburg " voted to give to Miss Elizabeth Stearns
(affianced to Rev. Mr. Payson) a neat, handsome suit of mourning."
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