Rev. Eliphalet Porter, DD

The son of the parish minister in North Bridgewater, Eliphalet Porter was born there on June 11, 1758. He graduated from Harvard, studied theology with his father, and was ordained to the parish in Roxbury on October 2, 1782, where he remained until his death on December 7, 1833.

An overseer of Harvard College and a member of the Corporation, Rev. Porter was also involved in other benevolent societies of the day. At the church, Rev. Porter took on Rev. George Putnam as an associate in 1830, who said the following in Rev. Porter’s funeral sermon: “He knew no party but that whose bounds include the whole church of Christ. He never lent a hand in the work of division. He never kindled the fires of ecclesiastical discord. He never bore or followed the banner of religious warfare. He never bandied the bad words of exclusion and uncharitableness. Wherever he appeared, there was a mild and firm champion of Christian toleration, union and love. Though he, and such as he, had not power to prevent the mischief of dissension that have prevailed, yet his benignity of manner, his collected temper, his acknowledged wisdom, and his unfailing exhibition of a Christian spirit, have had on many occasions, and on many points, a soothing, directing, and most salutary influence in the affairs of the church.”