Samuel Spring

Rev. Samuel Spring (1746–1819) was an early American Revolutionary War chaplain and Congregationalist minister.

Spring was born in Uxbridge in the Massachusetts Colony on February 27, 1746.^[1] His father was John Spring (1706–1794), a militia man and local wealthy farmer, and his mother was Sarah Read (1716–1800).^[2] He was a great-great grandson of John Spring, a Founder and early settler of Watertown, Massachusetts, who travelled to America under the patronage of his cousin Sir William Spring, 1st Baronet,^[3] and was the great-grandson of John Spring of Lavenham and the great-great grandson of Thomas Spring of Lavenham. John later commanded the company of militia from Uxbridge in the American Revolution. His father was the town's moderator, selectman, and surveyor of highways, but lacked even a rudimentary education. Sarah, Samuel's mother, remained determined that he would have the best education possible.^[1]

Spring studied under the Rev. Nathan Webb, founding pastor of the first Congregational church begun in the First Great Awakening period of the Massachusetts Colony. Webb's early training of Spring helped prepare him to enter New Jersey College (now Princeton University), where he graduated in 1771. He took advanced theological studies from Samuel Hopkins of Newport, Rhode Island. His former mentor, Rev. Webb died in 1772. Spring was licensed as a minister in 1774 on the eve of the American Revolution. Aaron Burr was one of his classmates in Theological Studies at Princeton, who went on to study law.

When the Revolution's stirrings began, the Provincial Congress required the militia to have chaplains. Spring took up his colony's call. He served in both the Siege of Boston and in the invasion of Canada. He initially served in the regiment commanded by Colonel John Fellows of Sheffield. Burr also served at the Siege of Boston. When Colonel Benedict Arnold convinced General George Washington to open a second front against the British in Canada, Spring and Burr both joined this force under Colonel Benedict Arnold. Ships sailed from Newburyport, Massachusetts to Maine. At Fort Western, near what is now Augusta, Maine, Spring counseled Private James McCormick, who was sentenced to death, only to be reprieved.

The trip through Maine left a tattered, very ill army to invade Quebec. French Canadians helped the Americans with supplies and clothing. At Quebec Senter took possession of the Hôtel-Dieu on the banks of the St. Charles River. Spring converted the hotel to a hospital and chapel. Benedict Arnold's leg was shattered in the siege of Quebec, during the ill-fated New Year's Eve assault on the fortress city walls. Spring carried Benedict Arnold from the battlefield to the Hotel Dieu (the hospital). American troops occupied Montreal and Trois-Rivières and maintained the Siege on Quebec. Colonel John Patterson's regiment was dispatched to Quebec to shore up American positions. The American troops retreated back to the Lake Champlain area at Mt. Independence. Regrouped soldiers heard Spring's sermon on November 3, 1776, at this encampment. Chaplain Spring was discharged from the Continental Army at the end of 1776.

Reverend Spring returned to Newburyport and married Hannah, daughter of Rev. Samuel Hopkins of Hadley, Massachusetts, on November 4, 1779.^[4] He was a founder of the Massachusetts Missionary Society in 1779 and of the Andover Theological Seminary in 1808. He was very influential in a fundamentalist wing of the Congregational Church and many of his sermons and discourses were printed and widely disseminated. John Quincy Adams was one of many who disagreed with Spring's teachings; Adams wrote that Spring's views were "extremely contracted and illiberal" and that he had the "enthusiasm of a bigot". Spring maintained contacts with Uxbridge.

أنجب هو وزوجته 11 طفلاً، على الرغم من أن العديد منهم ماتوا في سن مبكرة: ^{[ 5 ]}

1. وُلدت مارغريت ستودارد سبرينغ في 26 أبريل 1783. وفي أغسطس 1807، تزوجت من بيزاليل تافت الابن ، وهو سياسي من أوكسبريدج. توفيت في 25 يوليو 1816، وتزوج زوجها من ابنة عمها هانا سبرينغ. ^{[ 2 ]}
2. ولد القس الدكتور غاردينر سبرينغ في 24 فبراير 1785، وأصبح قساً مؤثراً بحد ذاته.
3. ولدت هانا سبرينغ في 6 سبتمبر 1788، وتوفيت في 16 مارس 1796.
4. وُلد والتون سبرينغ في 15 سبتمبر 1790، وتوفي في 8 مايو 1809.
5. تخرج القس الدكتور صموئيل سبرينغ الابن (9 مارس 1792 - 13 ديسمبر 1877) من جامعة ييل عام 1811، وتزوج من ليديا ماريا نورتون، وأنجب 9 أطفال. ^{[ 2 ] [ 6 ]}
6. وُلد لويس سبرينغ في 20 أكتوبر 1793، وفُقد في البحر عام 1815.
7. ولدت ماري سبرينغ في 12 نوفمبر 1795، وتوفيت في 30 أغسطس 1796.
8. وُلدت بينكني سبرينغ في 19 يوليو 1798، وتوفيت في عام 1820.
9. وُلد تشارلز أ. سبرينغ في 25 يوليو 1800، وتزوج من دوروثي ب. نورتون. وأصبح شخصية مؤثرة في المذهب المشيخي في إلينوي وأيوا.
10. ولد الكابتن جون هوبكنز سبرينغ في 21 سبتمبر 1802، وتزوج من سارة آن راند، وأنجب 6 أطفال.

توفي صموئيل سبرينغ في 4 مارس 1819 في نيوبورت. ^{[ 1 ]}

• خطبة ألقيت أمام جمعية ماساتشوستس التبشيرية عام 1802
• بحوث أخلاقية 1815

• "Spring, Samuel" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.