USA > Connecticut > Hartford County > Newington > Half-century discourse, history of the church in Newington: its doctrine, its ministers, its experience; presented in the discourse delivered on Tuesday the 16th of January, 1855. > Part 1
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M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01150 5655
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/halfcenturydisco00brac
Mour af. Paster Brace
Konrad Huber Lithographer, 346-48Broadway N.T.
half-Century Discourse.
HISTORY
OF THE -
CHURCH IN NEWINGTON:
Uts Doctrine, Its Ministers, Its Experience:
PRESENTED IN THE
DISCOURSE DELIVERED ON TUESDAY THE 16TH OF JANUARY, 1855, ON HIS RELINQUISHMENT OF ACTIVE SERVICE, AT THE CLOSE OF HALF A CENTURY FROM HIS ORDINATION IN THAT PLACE,
BY J. BRACE, D. D.
PUBLISHED BY THE ECCLESIASTICAL SOCIETY.
-
PRESS OF CASE, TIFFANY AND COMPANY. M.DCCC.LV.
At a meeting of the Ecclesiastical Society of Newington, held Jan. 18, 1855.
Voted, That a copy of the half-century sermon of Rev. Dr. BRACE, delivered on the 16th inst., be solicited for publication.
Voted, That C. K. ATWOOD, R. WELLES, Jr., R. STOD- DARD and S. C. BRACE, be appointed Committee of Publi- cation.
1116277 Celebration.
Half- Century
ORDER OF EXERCISES
AT THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORDINATION OF REV. J. BRACE, D. D., NEWINGTON, TUESDAY, JAN. 16, 1855.
Reading of the Scriptures and Prayer, by Rev. MARK TUCKER, D. D.
SINGING. Prayer by Rev. J. HAWES, D. D. Singing-Psalm LXXI. PSALM LXXI. THIRD PART, C. M. GOD of my childhood, and my youth, The guide of all my days, I have declared thy heavenly truth, And told thy wondrous ways.
Wilt thou forsake my hoary hairs, And leave my fainting heart ? Who shall sustain my sinking years, If God, my strength, depart ?
Let me thy power and truth proclaim, To the surviving age ; And leave a savor of thy name When I shall quit the stage.
The land of silence and of death Attends my next remove ; Oh, may these poor remains of breath Teach the wide world thy love !
By long experience have I known Thy sovereign power to save; At thy command I venture down Securely to the grave.
When I lie buried deep in dust, My flesh shall be thy care : These withering limbs with thee I trust, To raise them strong and fair.
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ORDER OF EXERCISES.
Half-Century Discourse, by the Pastor, Rev. J. BRACE, D. D. Prayer by Rev. N. PORTER, D. D. Singing-Original Hymn by Rev. ROYAL ROBBINS, with Doxology.
We praise thee Lord, for gifts to men, When our Redeemer rose on high ; Apostles, prophets, heralds, then Proclaimed those truths that never die.
We bless Thee for the Pastor's care, The teacher's doctrine new and old,
From treasures drawn where garnered prayer And living faith turn all to gold.
Thy mercy, Saviour, long hath spared Our Pastor, Teacher, Guardian, here ; For us he toiled, with us he shared Life's joys and woes each passing year.
'Gainst sin he warned, and sin's dread pain ; Of heaven he spoke and heaven's delight ; Salvation's way-he marked it plain, That none might wander from the right.
His manhood's prime our fathers sought To aid them in the heavenly way ; He lives to see their children brought In the same path to love and pray.
Now that the evil days are come, And years have gathered round his brow, And death hath late bereaved his home Of her who cheered his path below ;
We would not, can not leave him lone, But through thy grace, great God, implore For him the solace of thy throne, Till life, as now his charge, is o'er.
Benediction.
DISCOURSE.
FIRST CORINTHIANS II. 2; 3, 4, 5.
FOR I DETERMINED NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING AMONG YOU, SAVE JESUS CHRIST, AND HIM CRUCIFIED. AND I WAS WITH YOU IN WEAKNESS, AND IN FEAR, AND IN MUCH TREMBLING. AND MY SPEECH AND MY PREACHING WAS NOT WITH ENTICING WORDS OF MAN'S WISDOM, BUT IN DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER : THAT YOUR FAITH SHOULD NOT STAND IN THE WISDOM OF MEN, BUT IN THE POWER OF GOD.
THE weight of the Christian ministry is enough to make any man tremble. When I came into the presence of the council, for examination and ordination, a youth as I was, I had fear even then, and awe at the great undertaking of be- coming a minister of the Lord Jesus. But now, as I am " an old man broken with the storms of life," and wearied with toil, having actually passed fifty years among this one people, in doing this responsible work, I feel the impression of fear unspeakably more. I know that a sense of " weakness, and fear, and much trembling "-
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DOCTRINE.
that begging of God for his mercy, is my proper experience, on this solemn occasion, when my course is run, and my work is done.
Nevertheless, I have comfort in the conviction, and strength in my assurance that I have taken the determination of Paul, as expressed in the text, as my purpose and rule during the whole fifty years of my ministry. Truly, I was with you in weakness-weakness of knowledge, dis- cretion, judgment, that should be equal to the wisdom of the ministerial office. Truly I have always been with you in fear-great fear lest any one soul in the whole community should be lost, through any faultiness of mine. Certainly, I was with you in much trembling, lest any part of the object for which the ministry is appointed, should fail of being accomplished by my services. I wanted to answer all the counsel of my father, in his ordination sermon; that is, to fulfill all that is included in being a good minister of Jesus Christ. I have been anxious to do all that be- longed " to the work of the ministry, to the per- fecting of the saints, to the edifying of the body of Christ. And who is sufficient for these things ?"
In this resolution of Paul, as to his preaching, we have the sum of the redeeming gospel, the
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DOCTRINE.
self-originated, eternal grace of the infinite mind, the incarnation of the Son of God, the atoning blood of the Lamb, the justifying righteousness of the great Redeemer. The doctrines which I have taught this people are, that " God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son to die for our sins ;" that the man who had been " dead in sin is made alive in Jesus Christ ;" that " the carnal mind, which had been enmity against God, is cleansed, washed, sanctified, jus- tified, glorified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." And I have showed " what manner of persons you will be," as you receive the proper effect of this gospel upon your heart and life, viz., that you will break the power of sin, that you will abhor the love of sin, that you will resist the indulgence of sin, that you shall be delivered from the pun- ishment of sin, that "you shall be holy in all manner of conversation and godliness," thus " growing up, day by day, to a meetness for the kingdom of Christ in heaven." I have made it my single purpose to drive at this one point of Paul, the atonement of Christ, which will secure the salvation of every soul that rests by a living faith upon that atonement. I understand Paul to declare in the text, that he never preached
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CHURCH.
one doctrine, never held one sentiment, but what had its root in this one ground, "Jesus Christ and him crucified." Indeed no minister, who receives the atonement of Christ in this manner, can there be, but does actually preach, and must of necessity preach, all the great doctrines con- tained in the gospel. This is something above " the enticing words of man's wisdom. It is the wisdom of God in a mystery. It is the power of God." Here is "the demonstration of the Spirit and of power," by which " a man is born again," and by which a stranger is turned into a child of God. This is the summary of my preaching, during my half-century. I hope it will be thought sufficient for the present occa- sion, which is rather designed to give a history of the gospel's influence, than to set forth a theory of doctrine.
I will now pass on to describe the formation of character among this people, as it has been made by "the preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is an original Puritan church, the same from the beginning. The covenant has never been changed, and I pray that it never may be changed to the end of the world. What reverence for creeds, or confidence can there be in them, if every minister that is settled must
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CHURCH.
make a new confession of faith ? This covenant, written in this pulpit Bible and in the church records, was brought from the mother church, and here it is to this day. All the ministers here have received the same doctrine, and have manifested the same spirit as Paul in the text, "nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
I suppose that settlers began to come over upon this side of the cedar mountain, several years previous to 1700 ; and for many years they went home to Wethersfield for public worship, and for the burial of the dead .* The first that was laid in this church-yard was Lydia Buck, aged twenty-eight, in the year 1726. The first male, was Simon Willard, aged sixty-six, Jan. 8, 1726.
The act of incorporation was passed, 1713; and it was ordered by the general assembly, that the people of Newington be exempted from all obligation to maintain the minister of Weth- ersfield, so long as they should support the wor- ship of God among themselves. This grant I find in the records of the colony-in the reign of queen Anne of England, Gurdon Saltonstall being then governor of Connecticut, and Robert Wells representative from this town.
* See Appendix, No. 2.
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SETTLERS-MINISTERS.
Among the earliest planters I may mention the names of Andrus, Buck, Boardman, Camp, Deming, Hunn, Kilbourn, Patterson, Sledd, Wil- lard, and Whittlesey. Although the charter was granted 1713, I find no record of a meeting until April 5, 1716, when a society meeting was held at the dwelling-house of James Francis, at which meeting Josiah Willard was chosen clerk, and he was continued in that office for many years. At this meeting it was voted and acted to raise their meeting-house within that instant month of April, 1716, on a spot of ground which is a few rods to the south-east of this house. John Stoddard, Samuel Hunn and Stephen Buck had the charge of the building, to act according to the best of their discretion for the public inter- est. At a society meeting held Jan. 15, 1719, John Stoddard and Abraham Warren were ap- pointed a committee to treat with Mr. Nathaniel Burnham to come and preach with them. The ministers that have preached here have been Nathaniel Burnham, Elisha Williams, Mr. Rus- sel, Jr., of Middletown, Simon Backus, Joshua Belden, Elisha Yale, Aaron Cleveland. Four of these were only occasional supply. Of the three settled pastors I wish to give some distinct account.
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REV. ELISHA WILLIAMS.
The first ordained pastor of this church was Mr. Williams. At a society meeting held April 6, 1720, it was voted that Jabez Whittlesey and Abraham Warren be a committee to treat with Mr. Elisha Williams, to come and be our minis- ter in Newington. Their resolution to invite him is so worded as to give me peculiar pleasure, because it shows how careful the people were, to obtain a man of the true doctrine, and of the right spirit. "Sept. 12, 1722, it was voted and agreed, that having had some considerable ex- perience of his life and doctrine-we do make choice, by a full vote, of the Rev. Mr. Elisha Williams to be our minister and pastor." " Also voted to keep Wednesday, the third of October next ensuing, as a fast, to implore the divine assistance of God, in gathering a church of Christ here, and in the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Elisha Williams."
On that day of fasting and prayer, Oct. 3, 1722, the church was organized by Rev. Stephen Mix, of Wethersfield, and Rev. Samuel Whit- man, of Farmington, a most pleasing and gratify- ing beginning of all that has been done, and is to be done here, in the work of salvation, through " Jesus Christ and him crucified." The ordina- tion of Mr. Williams was solemnized on the 17th
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REV. ELISHA WILLIAMS.
day of October, 1722. Elisha Williams was born at Hatfield, Mass., son of the minister, Rev. William Williams-was graduated at Har- vard College, 1711. He was the preacher in Newington from 1720 to 1726, until he was made president of Yale College. The college was flourishing and happy under his administration, which continued during thirteen years. Failing health obliged him to resign that office. He was a man to be praised for his science, urbanity, and cultivation of mind. The people of this place valued him very highly-were ready to do everything for him-and yielded him up with great reluctance. He was empowered with a military command intended for Cape Breton, in Canada, after which he was sent, as agent for the colony of Connecticut, to England, and was introduced to the acquaintance of the celebrated Dr. Doddridge. He was well furnished with academical literature, was a thorough Calvinist, and is characterized as one of the best of men. Dr. Doddridge was so delighted with his con- versation and Christian character, that he called Mr. Williams, "The praying colonel." While Mr. Williams was in England, his wife died here at home, and he married, through the influence of Dr. Doddridge, an English woman, whom Mr.
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REV. ELISHA WILLIAMS.
Belden used to describe to me as a woman of great spirit and eminent piety, a member of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, through whose agency Mr. Belden, and other ministers in this neighborhood, were furnished with good books for distribution, as by a tract society from England, even in those colonial days.
After his resignation, he retired to his seat at Wethersfield. He soon became a member of the assembly, and speaker of the house of repre- sentatives. He was further promoted to be one of the judges of the superior court, and after a pious, useful, and honorable life, he died in Weth- ersfield, July 24, 1755, just one hundred years ago, aged short of seventy, in the eighth year of Mr. Belden's ministry. I gather up Mr. Wil- liams's whole praise in one sentence written by Dr. Doddridge, viz. : " I look upon Col. Williams to be one of the best men upon earth : he has, joined to an ardent sense of religion, solid learn- ing, consummate prudence, great candor, sweet- ness of temper, and a certain nobleness of soul, capable of contriving and acting the greatest things, without seeming to be conscious of his having done them." O my brethren! I do esteem it a great honor and happiness given us
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REV. SIMON BACKUS.
from God, to be permitted to look back upon such a wise and good man, as having been the first minister of this church !
The second pastor of this church was Mr. Backus. He was introduced into the place several months before Mr. Williams finally re- moved. At several society meetings held in May and June, 1726, it was " voted and agreed, that Dea. Jabez Whittlesey, Dea. John Dem- ing and John Stoddard, do, in behalf of the soci- ety, proceed to make application to Rev. Mr. Simon Backus, of Norwich, to come and be our minister." From all the testimony which I have found, I am convinced that Mr. Backus was a substantial, orthodox, pious minister, that gave good satisfaction to the people during his minis- try, which continued about twenty years. He says, in his communication answering their call, " In a due sense of my unworthiness to be em- ployed in, and insufficiency for, that great and solemn work of the ministry, I desire your ear- nest prayers with mine, 'to the God of all grace, that I may come to you in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.'" Mr. Backus was ordained pastor and minister, Jan. 25, 1727., His wife was one of the ten daughters, (every one of which has been said to be six feet tall,
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REV. JOSHUA BELDEN.
making the sixty feet daughters, and all of them strong in mind,) children of Rev. Timothy Ed- wards, of East Windsor. Mr. Belden used to tell me of Madam Backus, as living here in his time, and of her brother Rev. Jonathan Edwards, of Northampton, as visiting his sister, and favor- ing Mr. Belden by preaching to the congregation of Newington. This is worthy to be noted as a high privilege for us. I suppose she closed her life at Bridgeport, with her son, Rev. Simon Backus, who was the minister of that place. Mr. Backus himself died in 1745, at Cape Bre- ton, whither he had gone as chaplain in the colonial service, aged about forty-five years. He was a good minister, and lived in great har- mony with his people.
The third pastor and minister of this people was Mr. Belden, one of the most solemn and conscientious of all. June 15, 1747, in society meeting, " Capt. Martin Kellogg, moderator, it was voted and agreed, that Dea. John Deming, Capt. Josiah Willard, Pelatiah Buck, be a com- mittee to treat with Mr. Joshua Belden, of Weth- ersfield, about his settlement, and give him a call to be our minister." Mr. Belden answers, just as I should expect, with his own reverent expression. "Forasmuch as the infinitely wise
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REV. JOSHUA BELDEN.
God has been pleased to commit the invaluable treasure of preaching the gospel, to earthen ves- sels, which is a work worthy of heavenly mes- sengers, 'that the excellence of the power might appear to be of God, and not of men,' I engage in this important and difficult work, relying on the promise and presence of God for assistance, hoping for the blessing of God upon you and me in all our ways, and that we may be built up in peace and love through faith unto salvation." The people, in their ever vigilant care for a true and sound ministry, "agree and promise to support and honor Mr. Belden so long as he preaches the Calvinistical doctrine, as it is gen- erally preached at this day." Mr. Belden ex- plicitly submits himself to the judgment and decision of the association, whenever occasion should call, for the testing of his orthodoxy. Mr. Belden was ordained the minister of New- ington, Nov. 11, 1747, and was continued in the pastoral office during sixty-six years. A special day of fasting and prayer was observed by the church, congregation, and candidate, a few days before the ordination of each minister.
In the consecration of Mr. Belden, "Rev. Edward Eells, of Middletown, North Society, (Cromwell,) introduced the public service. Rev.
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REV. JOSHUA BELDEN.
Daniel Russel, of Stepney, (Rocky Hill,) made the prayer before sermon. Rev. Ashbel Wood- bridge, of Glastenbury, preached the sermon. Rev. William Russell, of Middletown, First Society, made the first prayer at imposition of hands, and gave the charge. Rev. Benjamin Colton, of West Hartford, made the last prayer at imposition of hands : those that imposed hands were Rev. Messrs. William Russel, Benjamin Colton, Ashbel Woodbridge, and Daniel Russel. Rev. James Lockwood, of Wethersfield, gave the right hand of fellowship. Mr. Belden did the actual service of the ministry during fifty-six years, lived about ten years beyond his own preaching, and closed his life July 23, 1813, at the age of eighty-nine. A full account of him is given in the Conn. Evang. Magazine for that year. It is sufficient for me to say here, that he was a minister of Christ, sound in the faith, dig- nified and circumspect in his conversation, a conscientious, holy, praying man. He had a great family, eleven children, and great experi- ence of sickness and death in his house. He buried two wives and six children. He was a humble man, "rejoicing in hope, patient in trib- ulation, continuing instant in prayer." When his wife, (Anne Belden, of Wethersfield,) the
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REV. JOSHUA BELDEN.
mother of ten of his children, expired, young, he quoted at the moment of her departure, these words, "I am dumb, I open not my mouth, be- cause thou didst it." After a long course of years, standing by the open grave of his wife, (Honor Whiting, of Norwich,) being asked by the sexton whether Mr. Belden. wished to look upon her face more, he replied, with his charac- teristic majesty, "I hope to see her 'in the resurrection of the just.'" A child that stood among the company at that scene, and who is an old man here to-day, tells me that the im- pression of that look and word fastened itself upon his soul to this hour, and led the youth to think of preparation for eternity.
I was settled as colleague with Mr. Belden, and I enjoyed the relation entirely. My views of "Jesus Christ and him crucified," and my senti- ments and feelings in the whole gospel, were just the same as his own. He was a great lover of evangelical preaching, kind, fatherly, easy to be pleased, as it was always a delightful purpose with me to please and honor him. He was converted in Yale College, at the time when Rev. George Whitefield, and the two Tennents preached in New Haven. He was of the same class with the celebrated missionary, David
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REV. JOSHUA BELDEN. ,
Brainerd. He admired Whitefield, and within a few years after his settlement here, Mr. Belden had the gratification of receiving Mr. White- field here into his own house, and of going in company with him to Farmington, to hear him preach to the great congregation. I never heard Mr. Belden preach ; but I received from the people here the very best impression of his life and ministration. He was then fourscore, and he felt himself unable to speak in public, which led him to say to me, "You must not expect any service of me. You must feel that every part of the work is laid upon you." I did not take this charge as expressing any want of cor- diality toward me; but only as proof of his own infirmity, and as a testimony of his wonder- ful confidence in his youthful colleague. I can truly say here before you all, that Rev. Joshua Belden was a minister of Christ, and a fatherly man, whom I loved and revered. At his special desire I preached at his funeral, taking for my text, "Your fathers, where are they ?- and the prophets, do they live forever ? "
There are so many good things to be said of these excellent men, that they might well fill up the time without my calling your attention to the works of this last half-century in which I
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HISTORY -EXPERIENCE.
have been laboring here, and at this point I might dismiss you. This society too has been won- derful, from the beginning, for its order and peace, now about one hundred and fifty years. Never has there been a quarrel with any minis- ter ; never a council called to settle any difficulty in this church!
As for me and my course among you, I have to say, that my coming to this place was remark- ably providential. And when I look back and "remember all the way by which the Lord has led me these fifty years," I am filled with humil- ity and admiration! I had never been intro- duced to one of the congregation. I did not even see the men that called for me. The committee that made their application were Dea. James Wells, Dea. Daniel Willard and Gen. Levi Lusk. I received my license Sept. 24, 1804, at the hand of Dr. Nathan Strong, moder- ator of the north consociation of Hartford county, at Enfield. My horse, saddle and bridle were provided, to carry me over the land as a candi- date for the ministry, and I was looking far abroad, for years of preparatory service. My first Sabbath was spent in Ellington, out of kind- ness to Rev. Diodate Brockway, who had been
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HISTORY-EXPERIENCE.
broken by a terrible fall .* Before my arrival at my home in West Hartford, the committee had visited Dr. Perkins, my minister and teacher, desiring him to send to Newington the man, whom they might settle as their minister, on his judgment, and so escape the divisions which are frequently caused by hearing several men. He gave his promise to the committee that I should be with you on the following Sabbath, although he could not insure the condition of their request. Saturday afternoon I came over what seemed the long and solitary road, an inexperienced youth, an utter stranger, with anxious feelings, as you may well suppose, in regard to such an errand as that of preaching the kingdom of God. I was received into the house of Mr. James Wells, and was by him conducted, on the Sab- bath morning of October 7, 1804, to the door of this temple in which I am to this day. I spake not to one man, for I knew not any-not even to Mr. Belden, until I met him in the pulpit ; but I opened my message with the beatitude of Je- sus : "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
Through the agency of my old friend and classmate, now Dr. McEwen, of New London, I
* See Appendix, No. 6.
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HISTORY -EXPERIENCE.
was bound to Mr. Solomon Rockwell, of Win- sted, after four Sabbaths should be passed, to preach in that place ; but at the instance of the people here, I was released from my promise, and here I am before you to-day, after preach- ing here more than fifty years. I am filled with wonder and gratitude in thinking how " God bringeth the blind by a way that he knew not." Fifteen weeks I spent in the most pleasant inter- course among the people, to the time of ordina- tion. I had not a single Sabbath's vacation, either to consider the call, or to prepare my first pastoral sermon, and I have never had a vacation to this day, but have preached without inter- mission.
The ninth day of January, 1805, was observed as a day of fasting and prayer, with a view to the apostolic example, in preparing the candi- date and the people for the ordination. "The Holy Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." Rev. Joseph Washburn, of Farmington, a meek and lovely minister, (who soon after died, in youth,) was invited to preach at that fast, which he did solemnly and affectionately, on this text, " Brethren, pray for us."
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