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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01151 4947
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TRINITY CHURCH, SIXTH EDIFICE, 1898.
NNALS OF AN OLD PARISH
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF
TRINITY CHURCH SOUTHPORT CON
NECTICUT 1725 TO 1898 BY REV.
EDMUND GUILBERT D. D.
Published by Thomas Whittaker, 2 and 3 Bible House, New York MDCCCXCVIII
COPYRIGHT 1898 BY EDMUND GUILBERT.
1359839
Co my Beloved Parishioners of Trinity Church, Whose Loyal Devotion and Unwavering Kindness have united in making my sojourn among them The happiest Period of my Life, This Volume, The Record of the noble Works done in their Days And in the Old Time before Chem,
Affectionately Dedicated.
EDITION DE LUXE in Octavo, limited to one hundred copies, printed on special paper, extra wide mar- gins, numbered 1 to 100, -
Net, $5.00
Regular Edition, Crown Octavo, Net, $2.25
PREFACE.
The annals of a religious Society, whose inception long ante- dates this waning century, are necessarily the record of the varying vicissitudes through which it has passed ; the successes it has achieved ; as well as the unerring witness to the quality of the men and women, who, from the beginning, have been identified with its career. It follows then, that our venerable Parish, having been the representative of principles which, though unpopular with the many, were as dear to their uphold- ers as their existence; having begun and maintained, for a century and three-quarters, a continuously vigorous life, in the face, a part of the time, of determined opposition; and having had in its membership specimens of the best brawn and intel- ligence of New England, must have in its past much that is in- teresting, and worth rescuing from oblivion. Possessed with this feeling, and also conscious that there are those of advan- cing years, whose memory of events and persons is still vivid; who, in the course of nature, will not be with us a great while longer, the writer has felt impelled to prepare this volume. Nor is this all: Fairfield and Stratford-for the two places are indissolubly linked together in the early history of Episco- pacy in Connecticut-formed the "cradle" in which the Church in these parts was nurtured; and while it ought never to be for- gotten by Churchmen, what a vast debt is due to such men as Johnson, and Caner, and Shelton, and to their successors, for the important part they took in its upbringing, there is another aspect of the matter. The writer is no bigot; he ever strives to own and cultivate a "judicial mind ;" he dis- claims any intention of being, under the guise of an impartial observer, a partisan; he is, however, constrained to state, as
VI.
PREFACE.
the result of his observations, his conviction, that the Denom- inations around him are also under great obligations to the Communion with which he is connected. The Protestant Epis- copal Church, although they may not know, or be willing to acknowledge it, he believes, has helped materially to advance their condition. One has only to note the character of the prevailing religious services of to-day, to discern that it is the features the Church has always made part of its system, which are set forth in its Book of Common Prayer, that freely adopted, largely enables them to retain their hold upon their people. Nor is this a new departure. In the early part of the eigh- teenth century, the leanest kind of provision was made for those who attended Divine worship in the different meeting- houses; and from that time onward there has been a gradual enrichment, until we reach the stage that is visible at the present time.
It must be difficult for modern non-Episcopalians, for exam- ple, who are accustomed to fine organs, and elaborate music, rendered by selected choirs; who hear the Te Deum, and Gloria in Excelsis, and Gloria Patri, sung every Sunday, and the Apostles Creed recited; the Psalms said antiphonally ; who observe Christmas and are familiar with Easter floral decora- tions; who are fully aware that the trend of their worship is more and more in a liturgical direction, to realize that these things are all borrowed from the Episcopal Church ; that in the old days the keeping of Christmas and Easter, was considered sure evidence of affiliation with the Papacy ; that the Lord's Supper and Holy Baptism were little esteemed and infrequent- ly administered ; that laymen, without a scintilla of authority, ordained other men to the sacred Ministry ; that laymen in- variably performed the marriageceremony; that the dead were buried, without any service being said over them at all. Yet such is the fact, and there is no question but that the Episco- pal Church, by means of its Liturgy, its painstaking and rev- erent attention to the details of Divine Worship, its Sacra-
VII.
PREFACE.
ments, its Ministry, the same ever as it is to-day, has percep- tibly influenced the various religious bodies with which it has come in contact. They owe it then their good-will, and should surely be among those who regard its history in the past with kindly interest, and are resolved to pray for its prosperity in the years to come. These reflections are especially com- mended, with the writer's fraternal regards, to his neighbors, the religious Organizations of the Town of Fairfield.
Once in a great while allusion is made to the so-called dis- loyalty of the Episcopal Church in the time of the American Revolution. Its Clergy at that crucial epoch were mostly Englishmen; ordained in England; and supported altogether, or in part, by the Venerable Society of London. As was to be expected, they looked at events, as they came to pass, from the English point of view. Not a few of the Clergy, nevertheless, were devoted to the cause of the Colonies; while the laity as a body were overwhelmingly on its side. What if a portion of the former remained steadfast to the old order of things? At least, they were sincere in their convictions, and honest in the maintenance of them. We have had an experience in the late Civil War that must teach us to view tenderly, and have great respect for, men who had the courage of their convictions, who refused under the greatest pressure to violate their oath of allegiance, and own submission to what they considered an usurping government.
The attention of the reader is particularly invited by the writer to the great value of the appendices. The quaint and interesting "Sketch of Trinity Parish," by the Rev. Philo Shelton, is printed in full for the first time. The almost priceless "Private Record of Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, etc., performed by Rev. Philo Shelton, during the Forty Years of his Ministry, 1785-1825 A. D.," has never been given to the public before, so far as is known. It contains over four thou- sand names, and deserves not only to be put in a shape which shall transmit it unmutilated to succeeding generations; but
VIII.
PREFACE.
also to be made accessible to those, who at any future time, shall be interested in genealogical researches among the early settlers of the Town of Fairfield. The copy of the "Record," now in the possession of Trinity Parish, was transcribed from the original, which is held as an heirloom in the Sheldon fam- ily, by Mr. Lewis B. Curtis, of Southport; to whose faithful and arduous labors the thanks of the writer are due. .;
Whatever may be the merit of the following pages, the writer makes no claim to originality. Others before him have treated portions of his subject exhaustively. It has been his pur- pose rather to collect than to construct that which is entirely new; to procure from all available sources such items of his- tory as relate to Trinity Parish; and arrange them in the most convenient order. The archives of the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, of London, England, under whose welcome auspices, what is now the Protestant Episco- pal Church, was introduced into Connecticut, have been con- sulted. The Town Records have been carefully searched. The Colonial Records, as far as published, have also been examined. The Rev. Dr. Beardsley's "History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut;" as well as the admirable "Historical Discourse for the Jubilee of the Venerable Society," above mentioned, de- livered in Trinity Church, Southport, August 10th, 1851, by the Rev. Nathaniel E. Cornwall, Rector, have afforded much neces- sary information, which has been freely utilized. The Parish Records preserved intact from the year of the destruction of the second Church and Parsonage, by the British, 1779, A. D. to the present day, have proved a source of enlightenment to so great an extent, that were they wanting, even this brief tran- script of the past life of the Parish could never have been written. Various parishioners, and others who do not stand in that relation, have furnished a great deal of valuable material, both written and oral. As it would be invidious to specify one and not the rest, their names are not published. To all of them the writer's indebtedness is gratefully acknowledged.
IX
PREFACE.
This does not pretend to be a perfect book. No history that was ever written, can claim to be faultless. The most careful, as well as diligent, student is always liable to make mistakes. The writer believes, though, there are but few in the work he now offers to his readers. Whatever genuine errors or notable omissions there may be, whoever discovers them, will do him a favor by pointing them out, and he prom- ises that in due time they shall be corrected or supplied.
Southport, November 1st, 1898. E. G.
"Superficial it must be, but I do not disown the charge. Better a superficial book which brings well and strikingly together the known and acknowledged facts, than a dull, boring narrative, pausing at every moment to see further into a millstone than the nature of the millstone will admit."
Sir Walter Scott, Journal, December 22nd, 1825.
CONTENTS.
PAGE. I. FIRST SETTLEMENT AND EARLY HISTORY OF UNQUOWA, AFTERWARDS, THE TOWN OF FAIRFIELD, 1638 A.D. 1 II. SKETCH OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SITUATION IN CON- NECTICUT, 1638 A. D to 1818 A. D. - 6 OF KEITH AND TALBOT TO THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES, 1702 A. D. 10
III. ORGANIZATION OF THE VENERABLE SOCIETY : VISIT
IV. THE REV. GEORGE MUIRSON, THE REV. MESSRS. TAL- BOT, SHARPE, AND BRIDGE, OFFICIATE AT FAIRFIELD 1706-1723 A. D.
24
V. THE MINISTRY OF THE REV. SAMUEL JOHNSON, AND THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST CHURCH AT MILL PLAIN, 1723-1727 A. D. - -
30
VI. THE REV. HENRY CANER, THE FIRST RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH, AND THE BUILDING OF THE SEC- OND CHURCH EDIFICE, 1727-1747 A. D.
38
VII. THE REV. JOSEPH LAMSON'S RECTORSHIP, 1747-1773 A. D.
45
VIII. THE REV. JOHN SAYRE'S RECTORSHIP : THE BURNING OF FAIRFIELD, 1773-1779 A. D. - - 50
IX. MR. PHILO SHELTON, LAY READER: ELECTION OF BISHOP SEABURY, 1779-1785 A. D. - 56
X. THE REV. PHILO SHELTON'S RECTORSHIP : BUILDING OF THE THIRD CHURCH ON MILL PLAIN, 1785-1817 A. D.
68
XI. THE REV. PHILO SHELTON'S RECTORSHIP CONTINUED : THE LOTTERY : FOUNDING OF THE BIBLE AND PRAY- ER BOOK SOCIETY OF TRINITY PARISH, 1817-1820 A. D. - 75
XII.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
XII. LATTER YEARS OF REV. PHILO SHELTON'S RECTOR- SHIP : HIS DEATH, 1820-1825 A. D. - 82 XIII. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. WILLIAM SHELTON, 1825-1829 A. D. - 89 -
XIV. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. CHARLES SMITH: ERECTION OF THE CHAPEL AT SOUTHPORT, 1828- 1834, A. D.
94
XV. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. NATHANIEL E. CORN- WALL: TRANSFER OF SERVICES FROM MILL PLAIN TO SOUTHPORT: DEMOLITION OF THE MILL PLAIN CHURCH, 1834-1841 A. D. - - 99
XVI. CONTINUATION OF REV. NATHANIEL E. CORNWALL'S RECTORSHIP : STATE OF THE PARISH: RESIGNATION, 1841-1853 A. D. - 109
XVII. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. JAMES SOUVERAINE PURDY: DESTRUCTION OF THE FOURTH CHURCH BY FIRE: CHANGE OF SITE, AND BUILDING OF THE FIFTH CHURCH, 1853-1858 A. D. - 117
XVIII. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. RUFUS EMERY: DE- STRUCTION OF THE FIFTH CHURCH BY A TORNADO : BUILDING OF THE SIXTH CHURCH, 1858-1871, A. D. 127
XIX. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. EDWARD LIVINGSTON WELLS: BUILDING OF THE CHAPEL, 1870-1877 A.D. 138 XX. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. TALIAFERRO P. CASKEY, 1877-1879 A. D. 144
XXI. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. CHARLES G. ADAMS, 1879-1890 A. D. - 1 146
XXII. THE RECTORSHIP OF THE REV. EDMUND GUILBERT, 1890- 152
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
Trinity Church, Sixth Edifice, 1898 A. D. - Frontispiece
Trinity Church, Easter, 1898 A. D. -
1
Rev. George Keith 16
Seal of the Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
18
Rev. Samuel Johnson 1
30
Map of the Sites of the Churches, Erected by Trinity Parish since its organization 33
The First Church Edifice, Mill Plain 35
Tombstone of Abraham Adams 36
Rev. Henry Caner 38
The Second Church Edifice, Fairfield Village
41
Rev. John Sayre 51
58
Site of Old St. Andrews, Aberdeen -
63
Bishop Seabury
64
First page of Parish Record, 1779 A. D.
66
The Third Church Edifice, Mill Plain Bishop Jarvis, 71
69
Foot Stove used in the Olden Time
73
78
Fac-Simile of Lottery Ticket, 1820 A. D. Bishop Hobart 80
85
The Shelton Homestead, Bridgeport Bishop Brownell 87
Rev. William Shelton -
89
The Old Academy - -
92
Rev. Charles Smith -
94
Rev. Nathaniel E. Cornwall
- 99
Rev. Philo Shelton - 59
House of John Sherwood, Greenfield Hill
XIV.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
The First Southport Parsonage - - 104
The Fourth Church Edifice, Southport
- 109
Pitch Pipe used in the Old Church
- 111
Jeremiah Sturges -
-
113.
Rev. James S. Purdy
117
The Fifth Church Edifice, Southport
- 119
Bishop Williams - -
121
St. Paul's Church, Fairfield Village
- 122
Justus Sherwood, M. D.
124
Rev. Rufus Emery
- 127
Hull Sherwood -
- 129
Andrew Bulkley
133
Moses Bulkley
136
Rev. Edward L. Wells
138
The Chapel and the Parish School, 1874 A. D.
139
Francis D. Perry
- 140
Charles Bulkley
- 142
Bishop Brewster
143
Rev. Taliaferro P. Caskey -
ยท
- 144
Francis Jelliff 145 -
Rev. Charles G. Adams
- 146
Jonathan Godfrey - -
148
David Banks -
- 150
Rev. Edmund Guilbert -
- 152
Chancel of Trinity Church
- 154
Trinity Church, Interior, 1890 A. D.
155
The Second Southport Parsonage -
- 156
The Rockwell Memorial Font -
- 157
The Francis D. Perry Rectory -
- 158
-
- 131
William Bulkley
-
-
APPENDICES.
A. BISHOPS OF THE DIOCESE OF CONNECTICUT.
B. CLERGYMEN WHO OFFICIATED IN FAIRFIELD BEFORE 1827.
C. RECTORS OF TRINITY PARISH.
D. CHURCH-WARDENS AND VESTRYMEN OF TRINITY PARISH.
E. BAPTISMS RECORDED PREVIOUS TO 1779.
F. SOME CURIOUS FACTS IN THE LIFE OF DR. JAMES LABORIE.
G. STATEMENT CONCERNING TRINITY PARISH, WRITTEN IN THE PARISH RECORD, BY THE REV. NATHANIEL E. CORNWALL, SEPTEMBER 5th, 1851.
H. SKETCH OF THE CHURCH AT FAIRFIELD, BY THE REV. PHILO SHELTON, WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1804.
I. PRIVATE PAROCHIAL REGISTER OF THE REV. PHILO SHELTON.
( Containing over 4,000 names of persons Baptized, Confirmed, Admit- ted to the Communion, Married, and Buried, during the Rev. Philo Shelton's Rectorship.)
J. OBITUARY NOTICES OF THE REV. PHILO SHELTON, AND LUCY SHELTON, HIS WIFE, BY THE REV. DR. JARVIS, 1827.
. K. THE BIBLE AND PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY OF TRINITY PARISH.
" Cad of our fathers ! Still be ours ; Thy gates wide open set, And fortify the ancient tomers WThere Thou with them hast met. The guardian fire, Thy guiding cloud, Still let them gild our mall, or be our foes, nor Chine allomed To see us faint or fall. The marship of the glorious past Smell on from age to age, And be, while time itself shall last, Our children's heritage."
Rev. William Croswell, D. D.
TRINITY CHURCH, 1898.
CHAPTER I.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENT AND EARLY HISTORY OF UNQUOWA, AF- TERWARD'S THE TOWN OF FAIRFIELD, 1638, A. D.
Scarcely two and three-quarter centuries have passed, since the region in which the beautiful village of Southport now lies, was a savage wilderness. No foot of white man, un- less it may have been that of some adventurous explorer, had ever trodden its solitary wastes. Bears in plentiful numbers roamed, where now abodes of refinement and culture abound. Wolves found an unmolested retreat amid thickets which no woodman's axe had ever invaded .* Everything was in its pristine dress; hillside and glen; forest tree and mossy rock ; wavy margined coast, and arbored running stream; all were as nature made and meant them. Such was Unquowa in 1637, when a decisive battle was fought, within its borders, between a detachment of colonists and the remnant of the tribe of the Pequots. The habitat of the latter was the extreme eastern section of the Colony, reaching from the Niantic river to Rhode Island, where it had been guilty of numerous unprovoked at- tacks upon the dwellings and hamlets of the settlers. Driven to desperation, the colonists attacked their foes, destroyed their fort at Groton, and when they fled, pursued, overtook, and defeated them again, near where the Pequot Library building now stands.t
*Long after the settlement of Unquowa, the bears, the wolves and the wild-cats made frequent and ferocious attacks upon the inhabitants. On August 22nd, 1666, " The Townsmen order that whoever kills a bear in the bounds of the town shall be paid fifty shillings for each old, and for cubs twenty shillings each." Child : An Old New England Town, p. 28.
tThe symbol of brutism is war; of civilization, a library. The Pequot Library picturesque architecturally, containing on its shelves 15,000 well selected volumes, now marks the spot where the Pequots were exterminated. Over its portal, cut in imperishable granite, are these figures, 1637-1887. How many, as they go in and out, note their deep signification ?
2
EARLY HISTORY OF UNQUOWA.
After the small but heroic band,* under valiant Captain Mason, had exterminated or scattered its savage foes, it re- turned, flushed with victory, to the familiar scenes, which for the time it had left behind, and the stillness and solitude of the forest primeval again prevailed.
In April of the following year, 1638, John Davenport and his associates, who had wintered at Boston, waiting there, to use his own words, for "The eye of God's Providence" to. "guide us to a place convenient for our families and for our friends," and resisting the inducements offered them to re- main in Massachusetts and blend their influence and their wealth with the earlier immigrants-anchored their ships in Quinnipiack harbor, and began the settlement of the Colony of New Haven. In 1638, a prominent member of the Colony, Roger Ludlow, becoming dissatisfied with the existing con- dition of affairs,f resolved to journey further westward and establish a new home for himself, and those willing to accom- pany him. The precise spot he had in his mind was Unquowa .. When Captain Mason two years previously had marched against the Pequots, Ludlow had served under him, and capti- vated by the beauty and the promise of the region, had carried away with him a remembrance of it that could not be forgot- ten. To Unquowa then came Roger Ludlow and his follow- ers, and selecting the name of Fairfield for the new settlement, began to devote themselves to its improvement. The Indians,
*"It is ordered that there shall be an offensive war against the Pequots, & that there shall be 90 men levied out of the three plantations, Hartford, Wethers. field & Windsor ; (viz.) out of Hartford 42, Windsor 30, Wethersfield 18; under the command of Capt. John Mason, & in case of death or sickness, under the command of Robt. Seely, Leift .; and the eldest S'geant or military officer surviving, if both these miscarry." Col. Rec. of Conn. I., 9.
+ To the Connecticut settler, religion was an essential part of daily life and poli- tics, and logic was an essential part of religion. Town and Church were but two sides of the same thing. Differences of opinion there must be, in church as well as town matters, therefore, ruptures became inevitable. The minority, unwilling to resist the majority, or to continue in illogical union with it, preferred a different. location. Thus every religious dispute usually gave rise to a new town. John- ston : History of Connecticut, p. 6.
3
EARLY HISTORY OF UNQUOWA.
native and to the manner born, at first were troublesome, but kindly treatment and just dealing soon changed their animos- ity into friendship. Before many decades had passed, Fair- field, Mill Plain, Stratfield, Greenfield Hill, Mill River (now Southport), and Green's Farms, were flourishing localities. And here this fact must be borne in mind: Trinity Church, whose history, truly recorded, without bias, these pages seek to perpetuate, has never been the Church of a particular vil- lage, but rather of an extensive district-the whole Town of Fairfield. All the places mentioned above, have had a special interest in it. At one period, vestrymen were annually elected to represent them in its councils. Long after the Revolution, the parish, in addition to the near-by settlements, reached out and took in Stratfield, now Bridgeport, and Northfield, now Weston. To-day, although situate in Southport, its member- ship is made up, as of old, not merely of dwellers in that village, but also of residents of Saugatuck, Green's Farms, Greenfield Hill, Mill Plain, and Fairfield as well.
From the first, the settlers of Unquowa enjoyed the great privilege, new to them, of perfectly autonomous action in re- ligious and civil affairs. As the Church, so far as their experi- ence went, had always been the creature of the State, they adopted a novel and untried system, which subordinated it, in every way, to the civil authority.
Their aim was to inaugurate a government in which the power should issue wholly from the people, and under which, the people should be supreme. This was the meaning of the contest which was being waged in England during this period : the old feudal idea of absolute rule by one man, be he Baron or King, was dying out. The people had resolved to have somewhat to say in the administration of affairs ; and it was because he failed to discern this fact, that Charles I. died the reverse of a martyr's death at Whitehall, in 1649. The Puri- tans then, who settled Fairfield, and those otherwise, who afterwards joined them, represented the intense desire for self-
4
EARLY HISTORY OF UNQUOWA.
government which at that period was in the air ; which to-day is just as strongly a characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race. They were seekers after pure doctrine, pure politics, pure wor- ship, pure life. They desired to solve for all time the most difficult problem that touches the secular life of man-how to produce a perfect civic condition ; to get as near Sir Thomas More's Utopian ideal as is possible on this mundane sphere.
The environment of these worthies, we must remember, was not as helpful for the achievement of such a great aim, as is ours. Three hundred years ago the world was literally in its swaddling-clothes. It is really surprising, when we look into it, how modern all that makes up the comfort of present liv- ing is. We feel ourselves aggrieved to-day, if we have not on our breakfast-tables, all that mankind said and did yesterday. The Puritans had no newspapers, no steam transit, no tele- graph system, nor telephone. It was the middle of the seven- teenth century before stage-coaches were introduced in Eng- land, and then it took four days to convey a passenger at the cost of four pounds, from London to York. Many lines did not even try to run in winter. The roads were so narrow that the Dover coach was drawn by six horses tandem, while the coachman walked by their side. The first carriage ever used in England, was invented by a Hollander for Queen Elizabeth. Erasmus tells us that salt beef and strong ale constituted the chief part of this great sovereign's breakfast; that similar refreshments were served her in bed for supper ; and that, as forks were not invented, she ate with her fingers. There is hardly a thriving shopkeeper who does not occupy at the close of this nineteenth century, a house which English nobles in 1650, would have envied. Here in New England, life was even more primitive. There were no post-offices in Connecticut until 1790. Communication with the great centres was kept up by means of post-horses. "It was an exciting time when John Perry, the carrier of the mail, the man of news, the individual who kept Fairfield in touch with Boston, Stamford and interven-
5
EARLY HISTORY OF UNQUOWA.
ing towns, arrived and handed over mail and news together. He was appointed to office in 1687. The whole trip was made once a month during the winter, and once in three weeks dur- ing the summer."* Floors were carpetless; walls bare of plas- ter, the rafters showing; no pictures adorned the walls ; illum- ination was obtained from candles made of tallow, and mould- ed in the house. The cold in those days was intense. One writer mentions, "the bread freezing at the Lord's Table." Slavery flourished until a late date. There are few wills that, up to the beginning of this century,do not contain bequests of slaves. In 1790 there were 2,759, and in 1840, quite a recent date, 17 were still living. Such were the primitive conditions out of which the highly civilized Fairfield that we know so well, has emerged.
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