DAVENPORT, JOHN
(April 1597, Coventry, England-15 March, 1670, Boston, MA). Education: Studied at Oxford University, 1613-15; B.D., Magdalen College, Oxford University, 1625. Career: Private chaplain, Hilton Castle, near Durham, England, 1615-16; curate, Church of St. Lawrence Jewry, London, 1619-24; vicar, St. Stephen's Church, London, 1624-33; independent minister, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Netherlands, 1633-37; minister, New Haven colony, 1639-68; minister, First Congregational Church, Boston, 1668- 70.
John Davenport, one of the most rigid of the early Puritans, is best remembered for the controversies that grew out of his religious views. As an Anglican minister in London he came to admire the example of Puritans John Cotton* and Thomas Hooker*. Favoring the creation of more pulpits in England for dissenters, he joined a movement to collect private funds to set up Puritan lectureships throughout the realm-a kind of church within a church. Royal opposition and the appointment of William Laud as archbishop convinced Davenport that he would not be able to worship freely in England. So in 1633 he migrated to Holland
Even Holland did not prove a stable refuge. Believing that only the children of church members should be given baptism, Davenport argued with fellow ministers who were less restrictive. As a result he lost his clerical position in Holland In 1637, looking for freer pastures, he boarded the Hector, and set sail for New England. Accompanying him were Theophilus Eaton, a wealthy London merchant, and various members of Davenport's old London congregation.
Davenport was well received in Boston, but conflicts in England and Holland may have convinced him that he would be happiest in a region he and a few friends could rule. At any rate he immigrated to Quinnipiac, later New Haven, where he became chief religious leader and Eaton become governor of an independent colony. They adopted the practice of admitting only visible saints to communion and limiting suffrage to the elect.
As time passed other areas of New England abandoned these rigorous practices, but Davenport favored the pristine form of Congregationalism and became one of the leading opponents of the Half-Way Covenant. This was in the early 166Os, and at the same time Davenport became embroiled in two other controversies. When regicides Whalley and Goffe came to New England, fleeing royal persecution, Davenport argued in their favor, and may have given them refuge in his house-although he denied doing so. At about that time Connecticut applied for a new charter, designed to include New Haven. Davenport fought against the annexation of his little commonwealth, but in vain, and New Haven was absorbed into Connecticut.
Possibly in order to beard the lion of innovation in its own den, Davenport decided to move to Boston in 1668 in answer to a call from the First Congregational Church. Here he continued a kind of rearguard action against the Half-Way Covenanters, who by now outnumbered the conservatives. His position on the covenant, as well as doubts about the propriety of his leaving his New Haven church, resulted in a division in his new church and the creation of the Third Church, "Old South," by the dissidents. Davenport died shortly after becoming minister of Old South Church. His later life is an example of the difficulty some Congregationalists have faced in attempting to adhere to old ideas and practices in the church when the majority have espoused new standards.
Bibliography
A: A Catechism Containing the Chief Heads of Christian Religion (London, 1659); The Saint's Anchor-hold in All Storms and Tempests (London, 1661); Another Essay for Investigation of the Truth in Answer to Two Questions, - Concerning 1. The Subject of Baptism 2. The Consociation of Churches (Boston, 1662).
B: AAP I, 93-98; DAB 5, 85-87; DARB, 122-23; NCAB I, 161-62; SH 3, 360-61; Franklin B. Dexter, "Life and Writings of John Davenport," New Haven Colony Historical Society Papers, 2 (1877), 204-34.
John Davenport, one of the most rigid of the early Puritans, is best remembered for the controversies that grew out of his religious views. As an Anglican minister in London he came to admire the example of Puritans John Cotton* and Thomas Hooker*. Favoring the creation of more pulpits in England for dissenters, he joined a movement to collect private funds to set up Puritan lectureships throughout the realm-a kind of church within a church. Royal opposition and the appointment of William Laud as archbishop convinced Davenport that he would not be able to worship freely in England. So in 1633 he migrated to Holland
Even Holland did not prove a stable refuge. Believing that only the children of church members should be given baptism, Davenport argued with fellow ministers who were less restrictive. As a result he lost his clerical position in Holland In 1637, looking for freer pastures, he boarded the Hector, and set sail for New England. Accompanying him were Theophilus Eaton, a wealthy London merchant, and various members of Davenport's old London congregation.
Davenport was well received in Boston, but conflicts in England and Holland may have convinced him that he would be happiest in a region he and a few friends could rule. At any rate he immigrated to Quinnipiac, later New Haven, where he became chief religious leader and Eaton become governor of an independent colony. They adopted the practice of admitting only visible saints to communion and limiting suffrage to the elect.
As time passed other areas of New England abandoned these rigorous practices, but Davenport favored the pristine form of Congregationalism and became one of the leading opponents of the Half-Way Covenant. This was in the early 166Os, and at the same time Davenport became embroiled in two other controversies. When regicides Whalley and Goffe came to New England, fleeing royal persecution, Davenport argued in their favor, and may have given them refuge in his house-although he denied doing so. At about that time Connecticut applied for a new charter, designed to include New Haven. Davenport fought against the annexation of his little commonwealth, but in vain, and New Haven was absorbed into Connecticut.
Possibly in order to beard the lion of innovation in its own den, Davenport decided to move to Boston in 1668 in answer to a call from the First Congregational Church. Here he continued a kind of rearguard action against the Half-Way Covenanters, who by now outnumbered the conservatives. His position on the covenant, as well as doubts about the propriety of his leaving his New Haven church, resulted in a division in his new church and the creation of the Third Church, "Old South," by the dissidents. Davenport died shortly after becoming minister of Old South Church. His later life is an example of the difficulty some Congregationalists have faced in attempting to adhere to old ideas and practices in the church when the majority have espoused new standards.
Bibliography
A: A Catechism Containing the Chief Heads of Christian Religion (London, 1659); The Saint's Anchor-hold in All Storms and Tempests (London, 1661); Another Essay for Investigation of the Truth in Answer to Two Questions, - Concerning 1. The Subject of Baptism 2. The Consociation of Churches (Boston, 1662).
B: AAP I, 93-98; DAB 5, 85-87; DARB, 122-23; NCAB I, 161-62; SH 3, 360-61; Franklin B. Dexter, "Life and Writings of John Davenport," New Haven Colony Historical Society Papers, 2 (1877), 204-34.