EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN WALLINGFORD AND MERIDEN.
A petition was sent to the "honorable the Governor, Assistants and Representatives in General Court Assembled, this 15th of May, 1727," and signed by the church wardens and vestry of the Church of England in Fairfield, praying to be excused from paying taxes to
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any dissenting minister, or to the building of any dissenting meeting-house.
"And whereas we were, ten of us, lately imprisoned for our taxes, and had considerable sums of money, taken from us by distraint, contrary to his Honour the Governor's advice, and notwithstanding solemn promises before given to sit down and be concluded thereby in this affair, we pray that those sums of money taken from us may be restored to us again."1
Upon this petition, the General Assembly enacted that all persons who were of the Church of England, and those who were established by the law of the colony, living in the bounds of any allowed parish, should be taxed by the same rule and in the same proportion for the support of the ministry; but where it happened that there was a society of the Church of England, having a clergyman so near any person who had decided himself to be of that Church that he could and did attend public worship there, then the collector was to deliver the tax collected of such persons to the Minister of the Church of England to whom he lived near, who was authorized to receive and recover the same; and if such proportion of taxes was not sufficient in any society of the Church of England to support the incumbent, such society was authorized to levy and collect of those who professed and attended that Church, greater taxes at their discretion. The parishioners of the Church of England were also excused from paying any taxes for building meeting-houses for the established Church of the colony.2 In 1722, the Rev. Samuel Whittelsey, with
1 State Archives; Ecclesiastical Documents, vol. III, p. 188.
2 See the Statute on page 340 of the Law Book of the Colony, edition of 1715.
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a number of the clergy, met from time to time in the library of Yale College, and examined a few theological books sent over in kindness from the mother country. They examined the doctrines and practices of the Primitive Church, and compared them with the model of their own discipline and worship; and the farther they pushed their inquiries, the more uneasy they became. As light would break in upon the darkened chambers of their toil, they were compelled at last to welcome it; and they finally sent into the Trustees a formal statement of their views, and declared for Episcopacy, or doubted the validity of Presbyterian ordination.1 Overwhelming was the sorrow and wide the consternation as the tidings of it passed from town to town and village to village. "I suppose," says President Woolsey,2 "that
1 ["To the Rev. Mr. Andrew and Woodbridge and others, our Reverend Fathers and Brethren present in the library of Yale College, this 13th day of September, 1722.]
"Reverend Gentlemen: Having represented to you the difficulties which we labor under in relation to our continuance out of the visible communion of an Episcopal Church, and a state of seeming opposition thereto, either as private Christians, or as officers, and so being insisted on by some of you (after our repeated declinings of it) that we should sum up our case in writing, we do (though with great reluctance, fearing the consequence of it) submit to and comply with it, and signify to you that some of us doubt the validity, and the rest are more fully persuaded of the invalidity of the Presbyterian ordination, in opposition to the Episcopal; and should be heartily thankful to God and man, if we may receive from them satisfaction herein, and shall be willing to embrace your good counsels and instructions in relation to this important affair, as far as God shall direct and dispose us to it.
"timothy cutler, john hart, samuel whittelsey, jared eliot, james wetmore, samuel johnson, daniel brown."
"A true copy of the original. "Testify daniel brown."
2 Hist. Disc. delivered at the 150th anniversary of Yale College.
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greater alarm would scarcely be awakened now, if the Theological Faculty of the College were to declare for the Church of Rome, avow their belief in Transubstantiation, and pray to the Virgin Mary."
The General Assembly was to have a session in the ensuing October, and Saltonstall, the Governor of the colony, of whom Dr. Trumbull speaks as "a great man, well versed in the Episcopal controversy," was invited to preside over a debate held the day after the session commenced. The debate was a stormy one, and both sides claimed the victory. The defence of the Episcopacy by one of the number, exciting some irritating remarks from the other side, the Governor abruptly put an end to the debate. The abrupt termination of the debate was soon to save to Congregationalism three of the signers of the declaration, Eliot, Hart and Whittelsey, who only doubted the validity of Presbyterian ordination; and they continued in their respective places, and for the rest of their days "were never known to act or say or insinuate anything to the disadvantage of the Church."1 As we have said, this defection of Mr. Whittelsey created the greatest excitement in Walling-ford. The Rev. John Davenport, in a letter to Rev. Doctors Increase and Cotton Mather, dated at Stamford, Sept. 25, 1722, says: "two societies, branches of the famous New Haven, one on the north and the other on the south, are mourning because of their first ministers, in so little a time after their ordination, declaring themselves Episcopal, and their ordination, lately received, of no value, because a non habentibus potestatem.2
1 Beardsley's Hist. of Epis. Church in Conn., I. 42.
2 Hawk's Doc. Hist. of Epis. Church in Conn., p. 68
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The precise time that the Episcopal church in Wallingford was gathered, is unknown.1 In 1729, the church wardens and thirteen members of the church in Walling-ford, sent the following letter to the Bishop of London:
'May it please your Lordship:
"We, the Churchwardens and parishioners of Wallingford and the adjacent parts in the Colony of Connecticut, in New England, beg leave to offer our humble duty to your Lordship. We are a Church but newly planted, and however content we are at present to have the service of the Church only once a quarter by a minister, on every Lord's day besides we perform the service as far as is proper for laymen; but in that part we are something deficient for want of sermon books, &c., which we cannot easily procure in this country. We are sensible the Rev. Theodore Morris cannot leave his other parishes oftener, yet we hope God, in his providence, will so order it, that we may at last be oftener attended; there are many ready to join in our communion, and have nothing to object to it, but our having service so seldom by a minister. We greatly rejoice that we are assisted in learning to know which is the true Church of Christ, and the manner how we ought to worship. But with melancholy hearts we crave your Lordship's patience, while we recite that divers of us have been imprisoned, and our goods from year to year distrained from us for taxes, levied for the building and supporting meeting-houses; and divers actions are now depending in our courts of law in the like cases. And when we have petitioned our governor for redress, notifying to him the repugnance of such actions to the laws of England, he hath proved a strong opponent to us; but
1 In 1734, there were five Episcopal parishes in Connecticut, with Church edifices and settled ministers; viz., Johnson at Stratford; Coner at Fairfield; the elder Seabury at New London; Beach at Newton and Redding.
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when the other party hath applied to him for advice how to proceed against us, he hath lately given his sentence 'to enlarge the goal and fill it with them' (that is the Church.) But we supplicate both God and man that our persecutors may not always prevail against us. And now that God may bless your Lordship, and the charitable endeavors of the honorable Society, and enable them to send more labourers to a harvest truly plentiful, is the sincere prayer of
"Your Lordship's Most dutiful and obedient servants,
"thomas ives, north ingham,
Churchwardens.
ebenezer wainwright, shadrack seagor, john bellamy, thomas dewlittle, waitstill abinather, aaron tuttle, phineas ives, matthew bellamy, ebenezer blakesley, enos smith, john meky, thomaswilliams, george fisher."
Nothing further is known of this society until June 20, 1741, when the Rev. Theophilus Morris, writing from Derby to the Secretary of the society for the promotion of Christian knowledge, says:
"I have taken another Church into my care at Wallingford, which consists of twelve families, I engaged to attend them once a quarter, which they seem to be satisfied with, for they know it is as much as I can do for them. I procured Mr. Thomson, whom I mentioned before, to officiate every Sunday in some one parish in my absence, and as his prudence and discretion have rendered him entirely agreeable to the people, he proves very serviceable to me."
Three months before this, the members of the Church of England at Wallingford and North Haven united and
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formed a parish by the name of "Union Church," and erected a Church building near Pond Hill. They sent an appeal to the Bishops of London for assistance, in which they stated:
"With melancholy hearts we crave your Lordship's patience, while we recite that divers of us have been imprisoned and our goods from year to year distrained from us for taxes, levied for building and supporting "Meeting houses," and divers actions are now pending in our courts of law, In like cases, and when we have appealed to our Governor, for redress, he has proved a strong opponent to us, and has lately ordered our opponents to enlarge the Goal, and to fill it up with the Episcopalians."
jpeg 244 In 1743, the Churchwardens of Wallingford sent the following letter to the Secretary:
"Wallingford, in New England, December 1st, 1743. "reverend sir: We, the inhabitants of Wallingford, members of the Church of England, make bold on behalf of ourselves and at the request of our bretheren inhabiting in the neighbouring towns of Guilford and Branford, to inform you that we are twenty-five masters of families that are members of said Church, and meet together every Lord's day and edify ourselves, as well as we can, by reading; and while the Reverend Mr. Morris was in these parts, we were edified to our great comfort; our number then increased, and many more were coming in to join us, but he being removed from us, and Mr. J. Lyon cannot attend us, we are now destitute, and our dissenting bretheren from year to year are distressing us with executions for meeting-houses, rates, steeples and bells for them; so that our present melancholy circumstances crave your good offices with the honorable Society. We are willing to do the best we can toward the support of a minister, and make no doubt but in two or three years' time we shall be
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able to raise £20 sterling per annum toward the support of a minister. We humbly pray we may be assisted with a minister, and, might we choose for ourselves, we having experienced the Rev. Mr. Morris, would heartily wish he might be the person; and could a method be found for quelling the perpetual demands of our dissenting bretheren for meetinghouses, rates, &c., it would greatly add to the growth and consolation of our distressed Churches, and we, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.
"henry bates, john ward, Churchwardens, and several others."
Dr. Samuel Johnson, under date of March 28, 1749, referring to the growth of Episcopacy, mentions that in Middletown and Wallingford, the Church had increased, and that Mr. Camp1 had continued to read to them with good success, and thought he would be a worthy and useful person. In 1753, he was appointed to Middletown, Wallingford, and the parish of New Cheshire. In 1750, the Rev. Ebenezer Punderson,2
1 Rev. Ichabod Camp, son of John Camp, was born at Middletown, and graduated at Yale College in 1743; read services and sermons in Wallingford in 1748; after his ordination, he divided his labors between Middletown and Wallingford, from 1753 to 1760, when he removed to Louisburg, Virginia. Some years afterwards he was murdered by his son-in-law. He was a man of excellent character and principles. His wife, Mrs. Content Camp, died while he officiated at Middletown, and on a tablet in the church her name was placed.
2 Rev. Samuel Seabury to the Secretary of the Venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel:
New London, March 30th, 1734.
Reverend Sir: These wait upon the honorable Society by the hands of Mr. Ebenezer Punderson, who comes to make his application to my Lord Bishop of London and the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for orders and a mission. He hath been educated in Yale college, Connecticut, where I had a particular acquaintance with him, and where he always had the character of a sober person. About five years ago he was called to preach in the Presbyterian or Independent way, at
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who was the successor of Samuel Seabury in the Congregational ministry at Groton, but who declared for Episcopacy and was ordained as a priest in England in 1734, preached for a time in Wallingford and adjoining towns, and whatever ministerial taxes they had been assessed to pay, he ordered to be entirely applied toward building their churches and maintaining readers among them, without appropriating any part thereof to himself. In a letter dated October 18, 1750, he says, "the next day rode to Wallingford, preached to a pretty congregation, baptized three children."1 At a town meeting, held at Wallingford,
Groton, near New London, where he soon received ordination; but falling under doubts and scruples concerning their power of ordination and method of church government, and, at the same time, acquainting himself with the church of England, he found himself obliged, upon true and regular conviction, to embrace her communion, and thereupon he laid down his ministry in which he was settled to good advantage; but a considerable number of the people at that place being also convinced of the reasonableness and necessity of church communion, and having strong affection for the person of Mr. Punderson, on account of his abilities and pious, exemplary life, have been very solicitous with him to make his application to the honorable Society for Propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts for a mission to that place. In testimony of which they have signed a desire or petition to the honorable society, with the promise of contributing a certain sum considerably to his support and maintenance, and it is most probable that many more will conform to the church of England upon better knowledge of it and acquaintance with it.
1 "Mr. Tunderson was ordained at Groton, December 29, 1729. Mr. Adams of New London preached the sermon. On the first day of January 1733-4, Mr. Tunderson made a communication to the society, avowing himself 'a conformist to the Episcopal Church of England,' and expressing doubts of the validity of his ordination. This notice was received in the first place with amazement and sorrow, and a committee was appointed to reason with him and endeavor to convince him that his ordination was canonical and his position safe and desirable. Of course this measure was unavailing. A council was convened at the house of Capt. Morgan Feb. 5th, and the connection dissolved." Miss Caulkins' History of New London, p. 420.
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December 20, 1757, the following memorial was presented: "the memorial of us the subscribers on behalf of our selves, and others our Breatheren who have Declared our Conformity to the Doctrine Discipline and Worship of the Church of England, who did for Some years Past assemble Together for Divine Worship near Pond Hill, and have more Lately, for our Convenience Met at the Lower End of the first Society in said Wallingford and How having Entered into a Covenant Engagement by Subscription to build a Church in said First Society do Now Signify our Desire Petition and Request to the Inhabitants of said Town That they would Grant us To Build a Church on the West side of Mix's lane (so Called) Viz. the West side the Countray Road, in the East End of Said Lane, so as not to Obstruct or Hinder the Passing of his Majesty's Subjects and we hope and Desire to Cultivate Cherish and Maintain Christian Charity Love and Friendship with our Friends and neighbors, Members of this Community of all denominations of Christians. And shall Esteem such a favour a mark of your Good Will Love and affection and your Memorialist Shall Ever Pray.
"Wallingford Decr 20, 1757.
"joseph rice, junr, titus brockitt, david cook, abel thomson."
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This church was built in 1758, on the north-west corner, above the present church. In this church was placed an organ by David Cook, who brought it from England. The church formed a union with the Wells society, after which they placed the organ in the Wells house, where it underwent some repairs, and was used until the erection of the new church edifice, when the old organ was sold to the society at North Haven. Here it was used until 1869, when it was sold to Wm. P. Gardner, Esq., of New Haven.
Dr. Johnson, under date of 1762, speaking of one of his missionary tours, says that Mr. Andrews was appointed missionary to Wallingford, Cheshire and North Haven.1 Mr. Andrews remained in charge of the societies
1 Samuel Andrews was born at Meriden, June 4, 1737, and was the youngest of eight sons, he was graduated at Yale College in 1759, and in 1761, he went to England to receive Holy Orders. In 1767 he undertook a long journey into "different towns and governments to the northward," preaching and lecturing, and administering the sacrament as he passed from village to village. He penetrated to Allington, in New Hampshire, one hundred and fifty miles from his home; and though he was the first clergyman who had appeared among the settlers, he found that a layman from Connecticut had been there before him with the services of the church of England. When on the fourth of July, 1770, the Thirteen Colonies, through the Congress at Philadelphia, declared themselves independent of Great Britain, all connection with the mother country was solemnly dissolved, and the American people were released from any allegiance to the sovereignty of the King. The Declaration involved the Episcopal dergy in new trouble. As faithful Missionaries of the Venerable Society, from which came their chief support, they honestly believed themselves bound by their oaths of allegiance taken at the time of their Ordination, to pray for the Sovereign whose dominion the colonies had thrown off; and guided by the forms of the Liturgy, they could omit no part in conducting public worship without doing violence to their own consciences. Mr. Andrews was placed fur a time under heavy bonds, and was not allowed to visit even a parishioner without special leave from the Selectmen of the town. In 1781, he removed to New Brunswick, and became the first Rector of St. Andrew's Church in the parish of St. Andrews. Here he lived in affluence, and died at an advanced age.
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of Wallingford, North Haven and Cheshire for several years. It is but justice to his memory to say that he executed well the office to which he had been called. To a consistent and unaffected piety, were added talents of a popular kind, and attainments more than respectable. He published some of his occasional discourses; and among the number was a Farewell Sermon to his people in Connecticut, and a Discourse on the Death of his friend and brother in Christ, the Rev. James Scovill, who was a minister of the church in Waterbury, and accompanied Mr. Andrews to the British provinces, and settled in New Brunswick. Like most of the clergy of that period, Mr. Andrews was remarkable for his cheerfulness and amiability. In his intercourse with his people, he had none of the gloom of the ascetic, nor any of the forbidden levity of the man of the world. He remembered that he was charged with the holiness of his flock; and while he "taught them as one having authority," he did not forget himself to practice in private the lessons which he gave in public. Mr. Andrews was the last missionary to this church in the employ of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts." He received annually from that source thirty pounds sterling; and this, in addition to what was contributed by his parishes, enabled him to live in a style of more comfortable independence than many of our clergy at the present day.
In 1770, there were sixty-three families attending the Episcopal Church. There were eighty-six communicants, and one hundred and sixty-five baptisms by Mr. Andrews. In Cheshire in 1770, there were forty-seven families, sixty-four communicants and eighty-six baptisms; and in Meriden, six families, fourteen communicants
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and twenty baptisms. In Wallingford in 1770, there had died in twelve years, fifty-six members of the Episcopal Church. When Mr. Andrews first came to Wallingford the people had just recovered from the "thunderings and lightnings, and earthquakes ecclesiastical," which had so long divided that community. The Episcopal clergy had taken no part in the theological disputes which the Independents carried on among themselves. They quietly watched the progress of events, and seemed to feel, as the Rev. Mr. Chandler expressed himself in writing to Dr. Johnson on a later occasion, "if these dissenters will but confute one another, it will save us the trouble." They were accused to the Society, and to their friends in England, with attempting to make proselytes; and this accusation was urged in order to depreciate their services, and prevent them from securing the boon they had so long implored-an American Episcopate. But Johnson denied this, and vindicated his brethren when he wrote to Archbishop Seeker from New York; and after referring to his experience of thirty-one years in Connecticut, said,
"I never once tried to proselyte dissenters, nor do I believe any of the other ministers did; we never concerned ourselves with them till they came to us; and when they did we could do no other than give them the best instructions and assistance we could in making a right judgment for themselves. And so far were we from promoting or taking advantage of any quarrels that happened among themselves, that in many instances we obliged them to accomodate matters with their former brethren, or at least do all they could towards an accomodation, before we would receive them to our communion."
The pamphlets published by both parties of the
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Independents, stirred up such an acrimonious spirit, and threw so unsatisfactory a light upon the real questions involved, that many among the people escaped from the controversies to find peace and enjoyment in the communion of the Episcopal church.1 2
Edward Winslow, the missionary at Stratford, was frequently called to officiate to the people at Wallingford. On the 29th of December, 1760, he addressed the following
1 Beardsley's Hist, of the Epis. Church in Conn., I. 195.
2 Dr. Johnson in writing to the Archbishop of Canterbury under date of July 13, 1760, says, "The Church is generally in an increasing and nourishing condition, and much the more so, on account of the violent contentions of the Dissenters among themselves, which in effect drive people into the Church. The Wallingford affair was again before the Assembly last May, and the lower house were still more zealous in the cause of the minor party, which seems the prevailing disposition of the country, so that there probably will be a great struggle to get out the governor and several of the upper house for not favouring them; and I here send your Grace two pamphlets relating to these controversies, that have been published since my last. The parties are both upon bad extremes. Hart and Yale, &c., are followers of Taylor, Foster, &c.; and, I doubt Socinianism is at the bottom, and the President, Hobart, &c., are most rigid Calvinists, and intend at any rate to oppose the others to their utmost. Meantime the Church is everywhere in peace, and the Clergy orthodox. It is a great detriment to the Churches at Middletown and Wallingford that Mr. Camp hath left them, induced partly by his necessities, and partly by the persuasion of Governor Dobbs, to move to North Carolina. How they are to be supplied I am at a loss to know; they ought each to have a minister, and I wish the Society were in a condition to settle at least forty pounds on the former and thirty pounds upon the latter, who hope for one Mr. Andrews, a candidate of good character, and one Treadwell, said to be a worthy youth, who has lately appeared for the Church, both bred at New Haven College, where I found three hopeful young men preparing for orders. Mr. Punderson seems a very honest and laborious man; yet the Church at New Haven appears uneasy, and rather declining under his ministry, occasioned, I believe, partly by his want of politeness, and partly by his being absent so much, having five or six places under his care. I wish he were again at Groton and some politer person in his place, and another at Guilford and Branford."
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letter to the Secretary of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts:
"Stratford, December 29th, 1760.
"reverend sir:
"During the past six months have been baptized here and at Wallingford nineteen white infants and two negro children, and several persons added to the communion of this Church. The present number of communicants is near one hundred and fifty, and I have still the satisfaction to be able to acquaint you that our people continue steadfast in their attachment to the Church, and, in general, careful to evidence the purity of their profession, and their sincerity in it, by endeavoring to make its substantial fruits and ornaments appear in their own personal improvement, in maintaining a union among themselves, and in giving no occasion of offense to others. By this means, through the divine blessing, the Church in this town preserves its ground, notwithstanding a restless spirit of opposition is but too evident in some of our dissenting brethren of influence and authority among us. This has an unhappy tendency to keep up the prejudices of many who are otherwise not ill affected to the doctrines and worship of our Church, and are much disposed to live in friendship. Much artifice is used by the leading persons among the Dissenters in this colony to prevent their people from attending our service, and to possess them with the absurd notion of their worship and discipline being an establishment here, from which ours is a separation; but their own late divisions and distractions among themselves, with regard to doctrine and discipline, have already unsettled so many and must necessarily have the like effect with others, that, I doubt not at all, there will be seen numbers gladly embracing the refuge from these confusions, and those wholesome means for all needful instruction and improvement in christian knowledge and practice, which our happy constitution will afford them. This is manifestly the present care at Wallingford and in its immediate neighborhood, where the church
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congregation has so far increased that the people think themselves in a condition to make some suitable provision for sending home for holy orders, and for supporting a deserving young man, who has been some time employed as a reader among them. They dare not presume upon the society's assistance, further than to crave the liberty to apply for part of the salary granted to Middletown and Wallingford, should they in their goodness see fit to allow it. The people who belong to the congregation at Wallingford, and live at some distance, have lately built themselves a small church for their greater convenience in the winter season, when their families cannot well attend at the other. I continue to officiate at Wallingford about once in six weeks, which, by the reason of the distance of near thirty miles, and the needful care of my particular charge, is as frequent attendance as I am able to give.
"I am, Reverend Sir, the Society's,
"And your most obedient servant,
"edward WINSLOW."1
During the Revolution the interests of all denominations suffered greatly, but the Church of England had the hardest lot of all; for she, especially as represented
1 Rev. Edward Winslow was born at Boston, and was graduated at Harvard College in the class of 1741. He succeeded Dr. Johnson as missionary at Stratford. He preached a number of times at Wallingford, but on peculiar circumstances of his family, he requested a removal, and the Mission of Braintree, in the neighborhood of his friends in Boston, being offered him he thought proper to accept it. He died in 1780. It was said of him that besides "excelling all in the colony as a preacher; he was behind none of them in discretion and good conduct; and being rector of the first Church, and otherwise duly, if not the best qualified, I wish, when Commissaries are appointed, he may be a Commissary, being also of the most creditable family and education; and as he has a large, young, growing family, and is obliged in that situation to live at the most expense of any of them, it would he highly expedient, if practicable, to add ten pounds more to his support."-Dr. Johnson to the Archbishop of Canterbury, July 13, 1760.
P> by her clergy, was considered as the very impersonation of rebellion; many of the clergy were forced to leave the country. The very small number who were enabled to continue their ministrations, succeeded in doing so, either by their remarkable prudence, or by engaging in conflicts or submitting to deprivations, which must have rendered life itself little less than a burden. The close of the war found the Episcopal Church in a state of the deepest depression. Her altars prostrate or deserted, her ministers gone or disheartened, herself the object of political odium and suspicion, without the inherent power of perpetuating her own polity, her cause, in the view of men, seemed well nigh desperate. So mourned her friends; so vaunted her enemies.
Shortly after the return of peace, the Episcopal clergy of Connecticut resolved to send one of their number to England, with a view to his obtaining Consecration as Bishop. On the twenty-first of April, 1783, Dr. Samuel Seabury was chosen, and shortly after sailed for England. It was necessary that the candidate for Episcopal consecration should take oath of allegiance to the king, and of obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury. But it was feared that there would be a renewal of that opposition which had kept Dr. Seabury from his native State during the whole period of the Revolutionary war. They feared that the State of Connecticut would not give her consent to the exercise of his functions, and that he would not be obeyed. The obstacles thrown in his way were enough to dampen the zeal of any but a stout, earnest and believing heart. He wrote to the clergy of Connecticut who were now on tiptoe with expectation, stating the fear entertained in England, that the General Assembly of the State would prevent a
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Bishop, should he be consecrated, from entering on the discharge of his Episcopal labors. A convention of the clergy was forthwith called at Wallingford, February 27, 1787, to determine what was to be done. As the Assembly was then in session at New Haven, a committee was appointed to confer with the principal men of the Legislature, and solicit the passage of an act authorizing a Bishop to reside in Connecticut, and to exercise the Episcopal functions there. The gentlemen to whom this request was made, replied, as they well might, that it was not necessary to pass such an act, as the law of Connecticut was already in conformity with their wishes.1 Certified copies of the statutes of the colony in relation to this matter were made out and forwarded to England without delay. Although the evidence was conclusive, other objections were started. Wearied at length with the opposition and delay which he encountered in England, and despairing of success in that quarter he at last bethought himself of the Episcopal Church of Scotland. To this Church, as free from the state, and unencumbered by political restraints, he determined to resort. Here his application met with a cordial response, and the favor he asked was readily granted.
In 1786, Sept. 21, Bishop Seabury admitted as Deacon at Derby, Reuben Ives,2 who that year had graduated at
1 See page 21 of "The General Laws and Liberties of Connecticut Colony," edition of 1672; also statute of 1727, ante.
2 Reuben Ives was the son of Zachariah Ives of Cheshire, and was born in that town, October 26, 1672. He was graduated at Yale College in 1786, at which time the institution was under the Presidency of the celebrated Dr. Stiles. His attachment to the Episcopal Church was always strong, and he had early resolved to devote his energies and talents to the promotion of her interests. The state of the country was such, and the
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Yale College. For some time he was the assistant of the Bishop of New London. The organization of the parishes in Meriden, Southington, and Hamden, was due to the ministrations of Mr. Ives, who in the begining of 1788 had accepted the Rectorship of the Church in Cheshire, his native place, for two-thirds of the time, with the privilege of occupying the remaining third in missionary duties in the neighboring towns.1
jpeg 256 want of ministerial services so great, at the time of his leaving college, that Bishop Seabury, who had two years before visited Scotland and returned clothed with the highest Episcopal authority, deemed it necessary to dispense with much theological education; and accordingly admitted Mr. Ives, together with his friend and classmate, Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Bronson, to the order of Deacons in St. James' Church, Derby, September 21, 1786. For some time after his ordination, Mr. Ives was with the Bishop at New London, in the capacity both of pupil and assistant minister. He married a daughter of the Rev. John R. Marshall of Woodbury, a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Mr. Ives was a great lover of church music, and was one of the first to introduce chanting in Connecticut. He died October 17, 1836. His daughter married Dr. A. I. Driggs of Cheshire.
1 The Cheshire Academy, founded in 1794, and the first institution of the kind strictly belonging to the Church in New England, and one of the first in the country, owed its existence to the efforts of Mr. Ives.
He remained in Cheshire over thirty years, after supplying the Church at Wallingford and Meriden parish. Rev. Tillotson Bronson1 occupied the pulpit at Wallingford on several occasions, as also did Rev. Messrs. Solomon and Abraham Blakesley. The Rev. Charles Seabury,2 the youngest child of Bishop Seabury, preached at Wallingford a number of times. Near the close of 1794, Rev. Seth Hart,3 who had preached for the Episcopal Society of Waterbury, removed to Wallingford, and remained nearly four years.
In 1801, Rev. Ammi Rogers4 assumed the charge of the parishes of Branford, Wallingford and East Haven. Rev. Messrs. Joseph Perry and Plumb, supplied the
1 Dr. Bronson was born at Plymouth, Conn., in 1762; was graduated at Yale College in 1786; was ordained Deacon by Bishop Seabury, Sept. 21, 1787, and Priest Feb. 25, 1788. In 1795, he was called to the Rectorship of St. John's church, Waterbury, and in 1805, was elected Principal of the Episcopal Academy at Cheshire. He died Sept. 6, 1826.
2 Charles Seabury was born at Westchester, N. Y., May 29, 1770; he removed with his father to New London, under whose supervision he studied theology, and was admitted to the holy order of Deacon June 5, 1793, and was ordained Priest July 17, 1796; was settled at New London, and Setauket, L. I. He died Dec. 29, 1844.
3 Seth Hart was born at Berlin, Conn., June 21, 1763; was graduated at Yale College in 1784; was ordained Deacon Oct. 9, 1791, and Priest Oct. 14, 1792. He preached first at Waterbury, and from 1794 to 1798 was Rector of the churches in Wallingford and North Haven. Some difficulty having arisen in the parish at North Haven, he resigned it and was called to St. George's church, Hempstead, L. L, where he remained until his death, March 16, 1832. He was a good classical scholar, an amiable man, a successful teacher, and an acceptable preacher. He died of paralysis, as also did his son, Rev. William H. Hart. On Mr. Hart's removal from Water-bury, several individuals liberally inclined, united and bought his house and five acres of land, and conveyed the whole to the church forever.
4 Ammi Rogers was born at Branford; was graduated at Yale college, in 1790; ordained Deacon by Bishop Provoost of New York in June, 1792, and Priest at a later date.
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pulpit at Wallingford at various times, as also did Rev. Virgil H. Barber.1 In 1822, Rev. James Keeler2 became the Rector of St. Paul's Church at Wallingford.
He was followed by the Rev. Mr. Bottsford, who remained but a short time. In 1824, Rev. Ashbel Baldwin3 removed to Wallingford, where he officiated several years. He afterwards preached at Meriden, North Haven, and Oxford, until 1832, when he became disabled by age for any active duty. His voice was very clear and loud, and it seemed the louder, coming as it did from one who was considerably under size. He walked haltingly, in consequence of one leg being shorter than the other. He abounded in anecdotes, and he evidently had a great relish for them in the conversation of other
1 Virgil Horace .Barber was ordained by Bishop Jarvis in 1805, and was called to St. John's church, Waterbury, where he remained till 1814, when he was elected Principal of the Academy, and Rector of the church at Fairfield, N. Y. About 1817, he declared himself a Romanist. It was doubtless through his influence that his father, the Rev. Daniel Barber, about a year after made a similar avowal.
2 James Keeler was born at Norwich, April 20, 1787; studied under Rev. Dr. Bethel Judd; ordained Deacon by Bishop Hobart in 1818. In 1822, removed to Wallingford as Rector of St. Paul's church; was ordained Priest by Bishop Brownell, November 4, 1823. In 1828, became Rector of St. Andrew's church in Meriden. He died at Janesville, Iowa, June 26, 1833.
3 Ashbel Baldwin, son of Isaac Baldwin Esq., was born at Litchfield, March 7, 1757, and was graduated at Yale College in 1776. Soon after leaving college he received an appointment in the Continental army which he held for some time, and which proved of great importance to him in his latter years in securing to him a pension, when he had little, if any, other means of subsistence. He was married to Clarissa, eldest daughter of Mr. Samuel Johnson of Guilford, and grand-niece of the Rev. Dr. Johnson of Stratford. He was ordained Deacon, August 3, and Priest, Sept. 18, 1785, by Bishop Seabury, and was immediately called to the Rectorship of St. Michael's church in his native place. In 1793, he became the Rector of Christ church, Stratford, and remained there until 1824. He died at Rochester, N. Y., in 1846, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.
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people. His kind and affable manners and social habits rendered him a welcome guest at the tables of the more wealthy parishioners, and he had the power of accommodating himself with equal facility to those in the opposite extremes of society. Mr. Baldwin was long a member of the standing committee of the Diocese, was delegate to the General Convention, Secretary of the Diocesan Convention for many years, and several times Secretary of the General Convention. His uncommon self possession and promptness in giving expression to his opinions, gave him great advantage in a deliberative assembly, over many of his brethren who were not inferior to him in good judgment or in general ability. After Mr. Baldwin left, the pulpit was supplied for a time by the Rev. Mr. Lucas.
Since 1832, the following clergymen have assumed the Rectorship of St. Paul's in Wallingford:
william curtis, 1832-1836. joseph brewster, 1850-1853. lemuel hull, 1836-1839. chas. s. putnam, 1853-1858. r. m. chapman, 1839-1840. john townsend, 1858-1864. hillard bryant, 1841-1850. edw'd m. gushee, 1864-1870.
Four edifices have been erected for the Episcopal society in Wallingford. A rude structure, about the year 1741, in a northern district of the township; a second on the lot now held for a public school, in the north part of the borough ; the third on nearly the present site. This was destroyed by fire, Oct. 27, 1867. It was valued at $15,000, and insured for $4,700. The corner stone of the fourth church was laid by Bishop Williams, May 26, 1868, and consecrated Sept. 2, 1869. The new church is built of Portland sandstone, and is finished with black walnut and southern pine. The entire length is 124 feet; the width 58 feet; the height 62
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feet. The church will seat 700 persons. Its cost was about $65,000. The Episcopal Church in Meriden was originated about the year 1789. The following is the agreement by which the parish of St. Andrews was formed:1
"Meriden, April 13th, 1789.
"We whose names are underwritten do declare our conformity to the Church of England and are desirous of enjoying the worship and Sacraments of said Church, do consent and agree to support the same:
"reuben ives, clerk.
"denison andrews, john b. douglas, moses andrews, ezra butler, isaac atwater, levi douglas, marvel andrews, watts hubbard, simeon perkins, seth d. wolf, "solomon yale."2
For several years their assemblies for public worship convened at a private house in the western part of the town. December 28, 1789, it was voted "to keep up meeting this year," and to hire Mr. Ives to preach. In 1792, Isaac Atwater, Seth Wolf, and Simeon Perkins, were appointed a committee for the purpose of erecting a church, but nothing further was done in the matter until 1795, when it was voted to erect a church at the
1 The original document was deposited in the corner stone of the church erected in 1836.
2 On the back of this document was endorsed the following: "December, 13, A. D. 1793. Public money from Mr. Merriam, £0 15 3. Delivered to Mr. Perkins, out of which £0 3 11 was due to him. August 22, A. D. 1794. Sent to Mr. Ives by Mr. Butler, cash £0 15 0. Moses Andrews. January 28, A. D. 1790. Sent to Mr. Ives by Mr. Butler, cash £3 0 0. April 9, sent to Mr. Ives by the hand of Mr. Douglass, cash £1 2 0. May 30, Paid to Mr. Ives at his house, cash £1 2 8. February 18, A. D. 1796, paid to Mr. Ives, cash £0 12 0.
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southeast corner of the green, provided the land can be obtained. The year previous it was voted to hire preaching six Sundays for the year ensuing. In 1803, Mr. Virgil Horace Barber was hired for six Sabbaths, and Nicholas Andrews was chosen to be a committee to agree with the Wallingford committee for his services. In 1806, it was voted to build a Church on the ground belonging to Joseph Merriam, and shortly after it was voted to build the Church within sixty rods of the meeting-house;1 also that the house for the use of public worship be under the direction of the Episcopal society, but that the doors be opened to Baptists and Presbyterians when not occupied by the Episcopal society. A committee was appointed to petition the Assembly for a Lottery, to raise money for furnishing the Church, but the petition was not granted. April 22, 1811, it was voted "to hire Parson Ives to perform divine service and preach for us one sixth part of the year ensuing." Mr. Ives resided at Cheshire, but supplied the Church at Meriden until 1824. In 1821, the Meriden parish voted not to unite with the Wallingford parish that year.2
In 1816, October 18, during the pastorate of Mr. Ives, the first house of worship was consecrated3 as St. Andrew's Church, by the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hobart,
1 The Congregational.
2 The following is the receipt of Mr. Ives, for his salary, for his last year's service at Meriden: "Received of the Parish of St. Andrews church in Meriden, for services from Easter 1823, to Easter 1824, one hundred and one dollars and fourteen cents, being in full for said year.
"Meriden 18 May, 1824. rev. reuben ives."
3 This building was forty-five feet long and thirty-six feet wide. The building has been converted into a dwelling house, and removed to Liberty near Broad street, where it now stands.
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D. D., Bishop of New York,1 who at the same time confirmed thirty-eight persons. In 1825, Rev. Ashbel Baldwin became Rector of the Church, on a salary of
jpeg 262 three hundred and three dollars. Since 1826, the following clergymen have had charge of the parish:
1826, nathaniel bruce; 1828, james keeler; 1832, robert A. hallam; 1835, edward ingersoll; 1837, john M. guion;3 1839, melancthon hoyt.
1 While the Diocese of Connecticut: was for several years without a Bishop after the death of Dr. Jarvis in 1813, Bishop Hobart consented, in 1816, to extend his Episcopal jurisdiction to that See; and he held this provisional charge until 1819, when lie was relieved by the consecration of Dr. Brownell.
2 Dr. Hallam was called to the Rectorship of St. James' church, New London, in 1834, and assumed the charge January 1, 1835.He is the eighth rector of that church.
3 Mr. Guion was graduated at Columbia college in 1826, and at the General Theological Seminary in 1829. Ordained Deacon by Bishop Hobart in 1829, and Priest the year following.
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August 21, 1839, it was voted "that Edwin E. Curtis be authorized to supply the pulpit after the 1st of October, at which time the Rev. Mr. Hoyt's resignation takes effect."1
1840. s. stebbins stocking; 1841. charles w. everest; 1843. john t. gushing; 1844. cyrus munson; 1848, joseph brewster.
June 8, 1848, the corner-stone was laid of the second house of worship. The church was consecrated February 6, 1850, by Bishop Brownell. This church was a pretty Gothic edifice, of brown stone. Its cost was about $12,000. It was eighty feet long and forty-five wide.
1849, abram newkirk littlejohn;2 1851, giles henry deshon.
The increase of the population in the western and northern part of the town, and the necessity of providing additional accommodations for the parish, rendered it necessary to erect another and larger edifice near the
1 Mr. Curtis was to see that the pulpit was supplied with some clergyman.
2 Dr. Littlejohn was born in Montgomery county, N. Y., Dec. 13, 1824; was graduated at Union College in 1845, and was ordained Deacon, March 18, 1848, and Priest in November, 1850, soon after entering upon the rectorship of Christ church, Springfield, Mass. He remained in Meriden ten months. He was afterwards Rector of churches in New Haven, and Brooklyn, N. Y. In 1856, he received the degree of D. D., from the University of Pennsylvania, and soon after was elected to the Presidency of Hobart college, Geneva, N. Y. For ten years he was lecturer on Pastoral Theology at the Berkeley Divinity School, Middletown. Nov. 11, 1868, he was elected Bishop of Central New York, at the Episcopal Convention at Utica. He declined the appointment, and on the 19th of November was elected Bishop of Long Island, which he accepted.
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Town Hall. The corner-stone was laid August 8, 1866, by the Rt. Rev. John Williams, D. D., Bishop of the Diocese. The second church was taken down, and the stone was used in building this third church. It was consecrated November 7, 1867.1
The ministers of the Church of England in Connecticut in 1740, numbered seven; in 1755, eleven. Episcopal parishes in 1750, twenty-five; houses of worship in 1750, twenty-four; Episcopal parishes in 1800, sixty-two. Increase in the half century, thirty-seven. The increase was largest soon after Whitefield's first visit to New England, and just before the war of the Revolution. Mr. Goodrich,2 in 1774, said, "The number of the Episcopalians
1 At the laying of the corner stone, the procession composed of the choristers, twelve in number, the architect, builders, building committee, wardens and vestry, deacons, priests and the Rt. Rev. John Williams, D. D., the celebrant, marched from the Institute rooms in the Town Hall. On reaching the church, the procession opened, the Bishop and clergy passing through, repeating the CXXII Psalm. The Bishop then proceeded with the service. The Rector of the parish, Rev. G. H. Deshon, then read a list of documents placed in the stone, viz., all those originally in the corner stone of the old building, laid in 1848, together with a copy of the last will and testament of Moses Andrews Esq., (whose name and memory the church most warmly cherishes and reveres), a copy of the Journal of the Convention of the Diocese of Connecticut, for 1866, the Connecticut Churchman, The Meriden Recorder, and specimens of the fractional currency then in use in the United States. There were present besides the Bishop and Rector, Rev. Drs. Beardsley of New Haven, Goodwin of Middletown, Hallam of New London, The Rev. Messrs. Adams of Haz-ardville, Baldwin of New Britain, Chamberlain of Birmingham, Gushee of Wallingford, Huntington and Mallory of Trinity college, Mason of New Haven, Niles of Trinity College, Townsend of New Haven, Ward of Cheshire, and Witherton of Buffalo, N. Y., Priests; and the Rev. Messrs. M'Cook of St John's Chapel, East Hartford, and March, assistant minister of Christ church, Hartford, Deacons. Mr. Henry Dudley of New York was the architect, and the cost of the Church was about forty thousand dollars.
2 Minutes of Convention, for 1774, p. 62.
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are about one in thirteen of the whole number of inhabitants; and probably there would be no great difference from the proportion were the account of all the towns come in." The church in this colony had a long and feeble minority, forming as she did, part of the Diocese of the Bishop of London, and being of course far removed from all immediate Episcopal inspection, and having no means of keeping up her ministry, except as she received fresh supplies from England, or sent her own sons thither for ordination. The early clergy struggled hard to establish the foundations of the church in the colony, and to overcome those prejudices with which they were compelled to contend.1
It has already been said, that from almost the first settlement of the colony, there had existed in it an established religion which belonged to the government, and was as firmly upheld by it as any branch of the civil machinery. Says a writer, "Intolerant principles were so deeply implanted in the inhabitants of New England, that all efforts to eradicate them at this period proved ineffectual."2 In the elegant and forcible language of one of Connecticut's historians, "It is impossible that the opinions of any one generation should be locked up in a vault strong enough to keep them from age to age in their primitive condition. Dampness will gather around
1 In 1705, a youth among the Friends wished to espouse a fair Puritan maiden, but the Quakers disapproved his marrying out of their society, and the Congregationalists his marrying into theirs; so in despair he thus addressed her: "Ruth, let us break from this unreasonable bondage. I will give up my religion, and thou shalt give up thine; and we will marry and go into the church of England, and go to the devil together." "And they fulfilled their resolution," the Puritan historian says, "so far as going into the church, and marrying, and staying there for life."
2 Hannah Adams' New England, p. 117.
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them and steal away their vitality, violence will break open the doors that imprison them, and set them free, or their deliverance will be left to the more slow but equally rude action of the rains and frosts, which will soften and crack asunder the mortar and stones, until, if the key does not drop from the arch, there will be found many seams and crevices in the walls for the entrance of the winds. So it has been in the old world and so was it in the new."1 Since the year 1713, when Episcopacy was first introduced into Connecticut, we have seen it grow to number in this state one hundred and thirty-four parishes, one hundred and forty-nine clergy, fifteen thousand nine hundred and thirty-four communicants, and with an annual contribution for Missionary, Church and other purposes, of over two hundred and nineteen thousand dollars. It may be interesting to mention here, that the annual stipend allowed the Episcopal clergy in the colony of Connecticut, was usually from £40 to £50 sterling; and unless the people provided a suitable parsonage and glebe, and contributed an equal amount yearly toward his maintenance, the clerical office was hardly surrounded in any place by a dignity and decency sufficient to command respect. Few of the Missionaries had any private means, and though they lived frugally, in conformity with the habits of the times, they were obliged occasionally to state their wants and the disadvantages of an inadequate support.2
ollister, II. 540.
2 The Mission of St. John the Evangelist, at Yalesville, belongs to the parish of Wallingford.