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You've heard, no doubt, of PARSON TURELL? Over at Medford he used to dwell; Married one of the Mathers' folk; Got with his wife a chair of oak, Funny old chair, with seat like wedge, Sharp behind and broad front edge, One of the oddest of human things, Turned all over with knobs and rings, But heavy, and wide, and deep, and grand, Fit for the worthies of the land, Chief-Justice Sewall a cause to try in, Or Cotton Mather to sit and lie in. Parson Turell bequeathed the same To a certain student, SMITH by name; These were the terms, as we are told: "Saide Smith saide Chaire to have and holde; When he doth graduate, then to passe To ye oldest Youth in ye Senior Classe.
You've heard, no doubt, of PARSON TURELL? Over at Medford he used to dwell; Married one of the Mathers' folk; Got with his wife a chair of oak, Funny old chair, with seat like wedge, Sharp behind and broad front edge, One of the oddest of human things, Turned all over with knobs and rings, But heavy, and wide, and deep, and grand, Fit for the worthies of the land, Chief-Justice Sewall a cause to try in, Or Cotton Mather to sit and lie in.
There were some doubters, but "so far as I can learn," says Turell, "the greater number believed and said they were under the evil hand, or possessed by Satan." But the most interesting fact of all is supplied by the confession of the elder sister, made eight years later under stress of remorse. Having once begun, they found returning more tedious than going o'er.
Turell of Medford detected and exposed an attempted cheat by two girls.
Parson Turell bequeathed the same To a certain student, SMITH by name; These were the terms, as we are told: "Saide Smith saide Chaire to have and holde; When he doth graduate, then to passe To ye oldest Youth in ye Senior Classe. SMITH transferred it to one of the BROWNS, And took his money, five silver crowns. BROWN delivered it up to MOORE, Who paid, it is plain, not five, but four.
The "pious and ingenious Jane Turell" could relate many stories out of the Scriptures before she was two years old, and was set upon a table "to show off," in quite the modern fashion. "Before she was four years old she could say the greater part of the Assembly's Catechism, many of the Psalms, read distinctly, and make pertinent remarks on many things she read.
The Reverend Mr. Turell was specially ingenious. Of him Dr. Holmes wrote, "You've heard, no doubt, of Parson Turell; Over at Medford he used to dwell, Married one of the Mathers' folks." His wife, Jane Coleman, was a handsome brunette. The bridegroom preached his first sermon after his wedding on this text, "I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem."
A great deal of light is let in upon the question of whether there was deliberate imposture or no, by the narrative of Rev. Mr. Turell of Medford, written in 1728, which gives us all the particulars of a case of pretended possession in Littleton, eight years before. The eldest of three sisters began the game, and found herself before long obliged to take the next in age into her confidence.
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