Rev. William Leverich was appalled by his fellow Englishmen at Cape Cod, whose behavior was a stumbling block to converting the Wampanoag Indians there.
Leverich was a young, educated minister in England when he left to America in 1633. Four years later, he led a group of settlers to establish a community at Sandwich, Massachusetts as part of the greater Plymouth Colony, sixteen miles southeast of Plymouth village.
Eventually Leverich saw more openness to Christian teachings among the Indians than the English settlers. In his letter to Wilson, he reported he convinced several Natives of their sin, “exhorting them to repentance.” One Indian “fell into bitter weeping,” and another confessed he was bound in sin as “a man tied in cords, and prays to God to be unloosed.” Some became so guilt-ridden over their wrongdoings, their companions wondered what was wrong with them. These newly religious Natives even built a longhouse at Sandwich to stay in when they traveled the several miles to attend day-long church activities each Sunday led by Leverich.
In 1658 William Leverich relocated again, leading settlers southwest to begin a new community on Long Island. He continued his work as a minister to both English and Native Americans until his death in 1677.
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“But I favored mine holy Name, which the house of Israel had polluted among the heathen, whither they went.... Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy Name’s sake, which ye polluted among the heathen, whither ye went.”
(Ezekiel 36:21-22; 1599 Geneva Bible)
