John and Sarah Phillips held to the creed of their Congregationalist parents and vigorously impressed them upon their children. They spoke with an age-old authority confirmed by personal visits, for Wendell’s zealously Calvinist grandmother, Margaret Phillips, often resided in her son’s home. She kept close track of the family’s religious state and continued to make John give strict account of his spiritual standing. At a well-established thirty-four, he still felt constrained to assure his mother that despite his worldly obligations, “I hope to keep my mind on my eternal welfare, agreeably to
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