July, 1816. We read of his being at Brookfield on the 1st, of his attending the funeral obsequies of Mr. L. J. Hutchins, at Wakefield, on the 2d, and of his spending the month industriously in the several places of his accustomed labor. Not far from this time there was in his mind a temporary conviction that he would select Providence, R. I., for his permanent residence, as he was anxious to concentrate his labors in one field, and no longer extend them over so wide a surface. Bearing date a few weeks later is a letter from Rev. Benj. Taylor, of Taunton, Mass., congratulating him on the change of his condition from single to married life, and earnestly inviting him to make the city of Providence his stand, assuring him that the condition of about thirteen churches within an area of forty miles called for his influence, ability, and zeal in their midst. Though Providence had the preference in his mind over the several places that occupied his attention as a permanent home, circumstances seemed to have ordained a different lot. He never became a citizen of that beautiful city.
July the 17th he was married to Miss Mary Jane Peavy, of Farmington, New Hampshire, daughter of Capt. Anthony Peavy, of that town. The lady that now became his companion in the cares, hopes, and sorrows of life, was of the tender age of eighteen; and though doubtless inexperienced in the trials that belong to the ministerial sphere, having been herself most carefully and tenderly brought up in one of the best of New England families, her devotion to her husband, and to the cause in which he was engaged, during the brief period of her life, was ever worthy of the noblest praise. All the letters and documents of these few years indicate a mutual depth of sentiment and devotional regard. So paramount, however, was the cause of the ministry in Mr. Badger's mind, that the happy and important change recorded of his social relations made no essential vacancy in the accustomed duties of his profession. The days and evenings as they passed were continually laden with his sermons and prayers.
In a letter to his brother, dated July 17th, he writes of the gloomy prospects of the husbandman throughout that country, saying, "We have been afflicted with war and with pestilence, and now we are threatened with famine, which is, if possible, a greater evil. I hope the people may learn righteousness whilst these various judgments are abroad in the earth."