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Updated: May 20, 2025
That this was not always the case is proved by a letter of invitation still in existence written by Reverend Timothy Edwards, who was ordained in Windsor in 1694; it was written to Mr. and Mrs. Stoughton, asking them to attend the ordination-ball which was to be given in his, the minister's house.
"That takes me back to the old meeting-house. Do you remember, wife, when I led in Dedham?" "I," said the mother, "was thinking of that Ordination-ball, and of 'Money Musk' and 'Hull's Victory." "That is strange enough," said the old man, "that it should sound like psalm-tunes and country-dances." "It takes us back to our youth; that is it," she answered. And Arnold went on.
But whether the parsons approved and attended, or whether they strongly discountenanced it, the ordination-ball was always a great success. It is recorded that at one in Danvers a young man danced so vigorously and long on the sanded floor that he entirely wore out a new pair of shoes. The fashion of giving ordination-balls did not die out with colonial times.
It was always celebrated by a great gathering of people from far and near, including all the ministers from every town for many miles around; and though a deeply serious service, was also an excuse for much merriment. In Connecticut, and by tradition also in Massachusetts, an "ordination-ball" was frequently given.
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