[6] The prospect of hiring an assistant or a replacement was brought up time and again at parish meetings, but without a decision ever being made.
[1][10] On December 30, 1802, the parish met and debated whether or not Bates should be afforded the traditional lifetime contract.
[8] Nathaniel Ames, noting how unpopular Haven had become over the years, advocated for a trial period first.
"[1] The opposition to Bates was so intense that it seems some, including the newspapers, expected there to be some sort of protest at his ordination, but nothing ever materialized.
[13] He asked to be dismissed from the church at a parish meeting in November 1817 to accept the presidency of Middlebury College.
[13] Just after midnight on the Fourth of July, 1809, a group of Republicans dragged the old town cannon to just below Bates' bedroom window.
[13] They fired the cannon, which was more than 150 years old, and awoke Bates again to the sound of shattering windowpanes.
[18] When news of victory in the War of 1812 reached Dedham, the old town cannon was dragged to the First Church green to celebrate.
[19] Pitt Butterfield, a republican and captain of the artilierists, "faced the church militant and in language more forcible than elegant gave the other party to understand that any interference with the loading or firing of the field piece would result in a fight then and there and that the broadcloth of a priest would not protect a meddling and domineering politician.
During his tenure, Bates helped to stabilize the struggling institution and oversaw the construction of the Old Chapel, an icon of the college that is on the National Register of Historic Places.