History

About Reverend Moses Sweat

In the 1700s, Massachusetts law (you may recall Maine was part of Massachusetts at that time) required every town to provide preaching by an "able, learned, orthodox (which meant Congregational) minister." Early attempts to form a Congregational church in Sanford, Maine floundered and in fact, the first church here was a Baptist church. Eventually, in 1786, a church was formed and Moses Sweat was a called as its first pastor. Moses had been born in Kingston, New Hampshire in 1754. He read theology with the pastor of his own church and then preached traveling from town to town for a few years. 

Again, under Massachusetts law, the town had to supply not only a plot of land for the church itself, but also a "minister’s lot" of about 100 acres where the pastor would live. Moses settled on his lot on the east side of the Mousam River, where he also engaged in farming and teaching. His pastor’s salary was about $100 per year.

Moses appears to have been a very intelligent man. He was fascinated by ancient languages, studied them arduously. becoming proficient in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic, among others. His prized possession was a polyglot Bible published in six folio volumes in London in 1655. It is now housed in the Rare Book Room of the Bowdoin College Library. It cost him $150 which given his salary of $100 per year, shows the significance of his investment. 

Several descriptions of Reverend Sweat were left by contemporaries. He was described as "fluent in conversation" having "all the graces of a Christian gentleman and model pastor." Apparently, he spent about 10 hours writing each sermon and they were "appeals to reason and the moral sense and were, of course, always practical." He was described as a genial companion, a good neighbor, a peacemaker, and a good husband and father.

His fellow pastors petitioned Harvard University to award him an Bachelor’s degree because of his proficiency as a language scholar. After examining his achievements, Harvard awarded him a Master’s degree at their 1790 commencement. Moses left 940 sermons which are now in the possession of the Maine Historical Society. 

Moses bought a number of parcels of land during his lifetime and, upon his death, he owned 371 acres. Apparently, he was a shrewd businessman; he had his sons advance money for some of these purchases but he kept the property in his name because pastors did not pay taxes.

Moses married Hannah Eastman from Danville, New Hampshire and they had five children - Homer, Hannah, Moses, Sarah, and Benjamin. Benjamin, his two wives, his children and his sister, Sarah are buried in the family cemetery on the homestead.

Moses died of consumption (tuberculosis) on August 30, 1822 after 36 years as pastor of the Sanford Congregational church, now known as North Parish Congregational Church. Harland Eastman, longtime president of the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society, believes Sweat is the second most important figure in Sanford’s history after Thomas Goodall.