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

520 HISTORY OF DORCHESTER.
who was a daughter of the then wife of Mr. Samuel Walker, one of the deacons of his church.
They had three children - Martha, Supply and
Samuel.
Mr. Clap was a man of feeble health; to benefit
which, he frequently took short excursions abroad,
often visiting Dorchester and Boston. He delighted
to attend the Thursday lecture. On one of these
occasions he makes a record of the following memorable incident:"Sept. 1740. The Revd Mr. Whitefield, in the
afternoon at 3 o'clock, was to preach at ye New South,
in Boston. The meeting-house being very much
crowded, there was suddenly an outcry, as if ye Gallery was falling. I being under said Gallery, hastened
out, stood at ye door; immediately there was such
thronging out, that yey trampled one another under
feet. Some jumped out of ye Galleries into ye seats
below, some out of ye Windows. I helped clear the
way at ye door, till they got so squeezed together in
ye porch, till I could get no more out. So that I
with others were forced to cry out to the pressing
multitude to make way back. After ye space of 5
or 6 minutes such way was made back, that we could
help the distressed out. Many were taken up for
dead, but being blooded chiefly recovered. Three
died upon ye spot, and two more a day or two after.
As awful a sight (I think) as ever I beheld. May
God sanctify it to me, & the rest of the Spectators.
"N. B. The Galleries were afterward examined,
and there appeared no danger."