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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01849 7278 E
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
GC 974.602 H25HAW
OF THE
FIRST CHURCH IN HARTFORD.
A
CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE
DELIVERED
IN THE FIRST CHURCH
JUNE 26, 1836.
BY JOEL HAWES, D. D.
HARTFORD:
HUDSON AND SKINNER, PRINTERS. 1836.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF THE
FIRST CHURCH IN HARTFORD.
A
CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE
DELIVERED
IN THE FIRST CHURCH
JUNE 26, 1836.
BY JOEL HAWES, D. D.
HARTFORD: HUDSON AND SKINNER, PRINTERS. 1836.
AT A MEETING OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN HARTFORD, JULY 11, 1836.
Voted, That the thanks of the Church be presented to our Pastor, for his very appropriate discourse lately delivered on its second Centennial Anniversary, and that a copy of the same be requested for publication.
Attest, WILLIAM W. TURNER, Clerk.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF THE
FIRST CHURCH IN HARTFORD.
PSALM 78: 1-7. Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the genera- tion to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children; that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.
IT is two hundred years, this month,-on what day cannot now be determined,-since the church, ac- customed to meet in this house, came to this town and commenced here the worship of God which it has ever since regularly maintained. I have thought the occasion a fit one for reviving some recollections of the history of the church and of its pastors, together with such reflections on the past, as may serve to make us grateful for the present, and afford us useful lessons for the future.
As we look back to the period when our fathers came here and began the great work of laying the foundations of our civil and religious institutions, a thousand interest- ing associations crowd into the mind, and we scarcely
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know where to begin, in the discharge of the duty we have undertaken. We love to dwell on the virtues of the venerated men, to whose self denials, and toils, and prayers, we feel that we are indebted for the chief blessings that distinguish our lot. We are interested and instructed, when we contemplate the principles of civil and religious liberty which, in a dark and iron age, they developed and established in this new world. We are moved with wonder and gratitude, when we think of the wide spread influence of those principles, and of the immensely interesting consequences which have flowed from the humble labors of men, who, driven out, as ex- iles and criminals from their native land, sought an asylum for religion and freedom on these western shores. But on these topics we cannot now enlarge. Nor is it necessary, as we have often dwelt upon them on former occasions. My present design is more limited, and will be confined to such brief notices of our history as can be comprised within a single discourse.
The original founders of this church were a choice collection of men from Braintree and its vicinity, in Essex County, England. Like the great body of the first set- tlers of New England, they were Nonconformists or Puritans ;* and not being permitted to worship God ac-
This was a name which first obtained in the reign of queen Elizabeth, in 1564. It was a name of reproach, to distinguish and stigmatize those who did not conform to the liturgy, ceremonies, and discipline, of the church of England. Fuller says, 'it was improved to abuse pious people, who en- deavored to follow the minister with a pure heart, and labored for a pure and holy life.' Trumbull, vol. 1, p. 280.
'It was a distinguishing mark of a puritan in these times, to see him going to church twice on the Lord's day with his Bible under his arm ; and while others were at plays and interludes, at revels, or walking in the fields, or at the diver- sions of bowling, fencing &c. on the evening of the Sabbath, these with their families were employed in reading the scriptures, singing psalms, catechising their children, repeating sermons and prayer.' Neal's His. of Puritans p. 560.
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cording to their views of duty in their native land, they, in 1632, emigrated to this country and settled at New- town, now Cambridge, Massachusetts. There they built the first meeting house ' with a bell upon it ;' and invited the Rev. Thomas Hooker, whose ministry they had oc- casionally enjoyed in England, to become their pastor. Accordingly in the summer of 1633, he, with about two hundred other passengers, among whom was the famous John Cotton, and Stone, and Pierce, and Haynes, and ' many other men of good estates,' embarked for this country, where they arrived on the 4th of September. On the 11th of October following, this church was organized at Newtown, and Messrs. Hooker and Stone were ordain- ed its pastor and teacher .* It was the eighth church es- tablished in New England, and the first in this State.
* It was a common opinion, in the early history of New England, that in every church, completely organized, there was a pastor, teacher, ruling elder and deacons. Between the offices of pastor and teacher there was thought to be a difference; but in what it consisted, it is not easy now to ascertain.
The terms themselves, though at first distinct, soon became convertible, and the distinction, whatever it was in the beginning, was ere long lost sight of. Trumbull says that the pastor's work consisted principally in exhorta- tion, working upon the will and affections. To this his studies and visits were chiefly directed; that by his judicious, and affectionate addresses, he might win the people to the love and the practice of the truth. But the teacher was doctor in ecclesia, whose business it was to teach, explain and defend the doctrines of christianity.
The business of the ruling elder was to assist the Pastor in the govern- ment of the church. He was particularly set apart to watch over its mem- bers; to prepare and bring forward cases of discipline; to visit and pray with the sick; and in the absence of the pastor and teacher, to lead the devotions of the congregation and expound the scriptures. It was an office very simi- lar to that of deacon, and was not kept up, except in a very few churches, more than fifty years. The authority for these distinct offices was supposed to be found in Romans 12: 7. 1. Cor. 12: 28. 1. Tim. 5: 17. and Eph. 4: 17.
See Winthrop's Journal, by Savage-vol. 1, 31. Trumbull 1, 280, Hooker's Survey part 11. p. 4, 20.
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In June 1636, a settlement having been effected here the preceding autumn, nearly the entire church and con- gregation, with its pastor and teacher, consisting in all of about one hundred souls, commenced a removal to this place. Now that the same distance is daily passed over in ten or twelve hours, we can scarcely conceive of the difficulties which our pious ancestors had to encoun- ter, ere they could reach the banks of the 'beautiful Connecticut,' the place of their future home. They had to make their way through a ' hideous trackless wilder- derness ; over mountains, through swamps and thickets and rivers, with no guide but the compass, with no covering but the heavens, and no lodgings but such as simple nature afforded them.' They drove with them one hundred and sixty cattle, and subsisted on the milk of the kine during the journey. After a fortnight's travel through the wilderness, tenanted only by wild beasts and savage men, they reached this place of their destination. Here they set up the worship of God in the regular administration of his word and ordinances. Here they lived and labored and prayed together. Here they enjoyed the special smiles of their covenant God and Saviour. Here they died; beneath and around us is the place of their sepulchres ; and here, having ceased from their labors on earth, they ascended to their rc- ward in heaven.
One of their first cares, after their arrival, was to provide a place of worship. Its location was a little North of where the Universalist meeting house now stands. It was of course a rude, inconvenient building, constructed of logs and covered with thatch. It was occupied only a short period as a place of worship, and, in 1649, was, by vote of the town, given to Mr. Hooker .*
Town Records, vol 1, p. 67.
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The second house for public worship was built in 1638. It was located a little distance eastward, from where the State house now stands, and served as the place of our father's worship 99 years.
It was a circumstance of great importance to the subse- quent prosperity of the churches of New England, that they were founded by men eminently qualified for the work ; distinguished alike for their talents, their learn- ing and their piety. This may especially be said of those who established the first churches of Connecticut. They were among the most pious, discreet and intelli- gent of the Puritans ; raised up in providence to impress a high character on the age to which they belonged, and to give a new and permanent direction to human affairs.
Thomas Hooker, the first pastor of this church, has justly been styled ' the light of the western churches and oracle of the colony of Connecticut.' No sage of antiquity was superior to him in wisdom, moderation and firmness ; none equal to him in the grandeur of his moral charac- ter and the elevation of his devotion. If we except the Rev. John Cotton of Boston, perhaps no man in New England exerted a greater influence in the civil and religious affairs of the country than did this distinguished scholar and eminent servant of Christ. He was born at Marfield, England, in 1586, and was educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, where he was afterwards promoted to a fellowship, in which office he 'acquitted himself with such ability and faithfulness as commanded universal approbation and applause.' After leaving the University, he preached for some time in London and afterwards at Chelmsford with great success. Among the multiplied fruits of his ministry in that place was Eliot, the famed apostle of the Indians .* So well was he
* One of the principal instruments which the God of heaven used in tinging and filling the mind of this chosen vessel (Eliot) with good principles
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beloved by the neighboring clergy, that when in 1630, the Bishop of London silenced him for nonconformity, forty-seven of them signed a petition in his favor, testifying that Mr. Hooker was orthodox in doctrine, honest and sober in his life and conversation, of a peace- able disposition and no ways turbulent or factious. But this petition had no effect on the imperious and inexora- ble Laud. Mr. Hooker was compelled to lay down his ministry ; and when afterwards summoned by the bishop to appear before the High Commission Court, he left his native land and fled to Holland. There he be- came intimately acquainted with the celebrated Dr. Ames, who declared that ' though he had known many scholars of divers nations, yet he never met with Mr. Hooker's equal, either for preaching, or for disputing.' With a genius and eloquence, which had he stooped to conformity, would have secured to him all the glory and power that an earthly ambition could court, he submitted for conscience sake, to the severest sacrifices and the most embarrassing distresses in his native land ; and finally fled to the wilds of America, that he might here, with the christian friends, who had loved and revered him as a minister in England, establish a purer wor- ship, and serve God according to the rules of his word. The man, who gathered this church and laid here the foundations of our religious institutions, in the principles of christian freedom, and of apostolic simplicity, ought
was the venerable Thomas Hooker, whose name in the churches of the Lord Jesus is as ointment poured forth. Prince's New England Chronolo- gy, 378.
Eliot refering to the fact above stated says,-' To this place I was called, through the infinite riches of God's mercy in Christ Jesus, to my poor soul ; for here the Lord said unto my dead soul, live; and through the grace of Christ I do live, and I shall live forever. When I came to this blessed family, I then saw, and never saw before, the power of godliness, in its lively vigor, and efficacy. Magnalia vol, 1, 305.
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never to be forgotten. It is good to contemplate his virtues and hold up his example to posterity. He was one of the ablest and most eloquent preachers of his day. All was life and reality in his exhibitions of truth ;- bespeaking the deep fervor of his piety, and the rich re- sources of his mind. Though kind, and affable in his common intercourse, he appeared in the pulpit with such majesty and independence, that it was pleasantly said of him; 'while engaged in his Master's work, he would put a king in his pocket.' In conversation, he was pleasant and entertaining, but always grave and instruc- tive. In the management of church affairs, he was ex- ceedingly wise and successful ; and great was the pros- perity and peace of the church under his ministry. But one person was admonished, and one excommunicated from the church, during the fourteen years that Mr. Hooker was its pastor. He died of an epidemical fever July 7th, 1647, in the 61st year of his age. He was a christian of deep and thorough experience. His conver- sion, which took place, while he was a member of the university, was strongly marked and the fruits of it ap- peared in a life of devoted piety and joyful hope. For many years before his death, he enjoyed an assurance of his renewed state and of final acceptance with God; and when dying, he said to a friend, who remarked to him, you are going to receive the reward of your labors, brother, I am going to receive mercy. He closed his own eyes and died with a smile on his countenance. A line of pious, useful and honorable descendants have embalm- ed the memory of their ancestor, and in a former age, his writings were valued with those of the very first class of New England divines .*
* After the death of Mr. Hooker, the church invited Mr. Jonathan Mitchel, to become their pastor. He preached his first sermon here June 24th, 1649.
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The Rev. Samuel Stone, the teacher of the church, was worthy to be associated with its distinguished pastor. By the author of New England's Memorial, he is called 'a star of the first magninitude.' He was born at Hartford, or Hertford, in 1603; was educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, and from a thorough examination of the subjects then in dispute, conscien- tiously adopted the sentiments of the Nonconformists. Of course he could not peaceably remain as a minister
The day following, that 'judicious assembly of christians,' as Mather terms them, invited him to settle with them; 'adding that if he saw fit to continue a year longer at college, they would immediately, upon his accepting their invitation, advance a considerable sum of money to assist him in furnishing him with a library, which they said was no new thing unto them. having had Mr. Hooker's instruction for doing so.' But being partially engaged to the church in Cambridge, Mr. Mitchel declined the invitation and was shortly after settled as successor to the famous Mr. Shepard. Mather's Magnalia, vol. 2, p. 72.
Hubbard, the earliest historian of New England, says of Hooker, that for prudence, wisdom, zeal and learning, and what might make him serviceable in the time and place he lived in, he might be compared with those of the greatest note. He needs no other praise than the fruits of his own labors in both Englands, which shall preserve an honorable and happy remembrance of him forever. Hubbard's History of New-England, p. 541.
In 1642 letters came to Cotton of Boston, Hooker of Hartford, and Daven- port of New Haven, signed by several of the nobility, divers members of the House of Commons, and several ministers, to call them to assist in the As- sembly of Divines at Westminster. The magistrates in and near Boston thought it a clear call of God. But Hooker did not like the business and thought it not a sufficient call to go a thousand leagues to confer about matters of church government, and so wisely determined to stay in quiet and obscurity with his people, rather than turn propagandist and plead in vain for independency in England. Several persons, who came over to New- England in 1643, made a muster to set up a presbyterian government under the authority of the Assembly at Westminster, 'but a New England Assem- bly, it is said,-the general court is meant-soon put them to route, Hutchin- son, vol, 1. 112. Hubbard's History, 415.
Mr. Hooker's 'Survey of Church Discipline,' which was published in 1648 and the principles of which had been fully discussed in the Synod that met at Cambridge in 1646, contributed powerfully to check the growth of Presbyterianism and to settle the churches upon the Congregational basis.
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in his native land. Being invited by Mr. Hooker to be- come his assistant, he embarked with him for this coun- try in 1633. Here, in the happiest union with his vene- rated and much loved colleague, he was for thirty years the teacher of this church. After the decease of Mr. Hooker, he was the sole minister of the people, and re- mained so till his death, which took place July 26th, 1663. Though but little is said of Mr. Stone in our early annals, that little is enough to render his memory dear and his name honored. 'He was eminently pious and exemplary ; abounded in fasting and prayer, and was a most strict observer of the Sabbath.' ' His minis- try was with much conviction and demonstration, and when he set himself to application, very powerful.' He was esteemed one of the most accurate and acute dis- putants of his day,-was of a ready wit and of a pleas- ant, cheerful temper ; which made his society to be much courted, by all persons of ingenuity and learning, who had the happiness of an acquaintance with him. The latter years of his life were embittered by a painful con- troversy in the church, originating in a dispute upon some ecclesiastical topic, between him and a ruling elder .* What was the real origin of the contention it is not easy to determine ; but it lasted nearly twenty years, with some temporary suspensions, and involved all the country around in the quarrel. The general court particularly interested themselves in the affair, and by their well meant, but injudicious interference, greatly increased the difficulty. Cotton Mather, in his quaint style, remarks, ' that from the fire of the altar, there issued thunder- ings and lightnings and earthquakes through the colony.' He also says,-' that the true original of the misunder-
* This, so far as I can learn, is the only difficulty of any agitating import- ance, that has ever existed in the church.
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standing was about as obscure as the rise of Connecti- cut river., Dr. Trumbull however intimates that the whole controversy respected the qualifications for bap- tism, church membership, and the rights of the brother- hood. He suggests likewise that Mr. Stone's ideas of congregationalism bordered more on presbyterianism, and less on independence, than those of the first minis- ters in the country in general. His sententious defini- tion of congregationalism was, a speaking aristocracy in the face of a silent democracy .* From all this, it seems not unnatural to infer, that the schism referred to, arose from a spice of presbyterianism. However this may be, all attempts to allay the animosities were without ef- fect. In the progress of the controversy, a part of the congregation removed and laid the foundation of the town and church of Hadley. After this Mr. Stone continued a few years in greater quietness, much beloved by his people, and witnessing the blessing of heaven on his ministry. He was a good man, and rests with the faithful stewards of God in the glorious re- wards of heaven. In anticipation of that happy state, he was accustomed with much longing to say,-' heaven is the more desirable, for such company as Hooker and Shepard and Haynes, who are got there before me.'
The successors of the two eminent ministers just named, were John Whiting and Joseph Haynes. Owing to the destruction, by some cause, of all the early re- cords, both of the church and society, very little can now be known, either of the character or ministerial acts of these servants of Christ. Tradition speaks of them as men of piety and talents and much honored and respected in their day. They both graduated at Harvard College, the former, in 1653, and the latter in 1658.
* Trumbull, 308.
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Mr. Haynes was son to the first governor of Connecti- cut; one of the first and most distinguished of the founders of this church and colony. Mr. Whiting was ordained in 1660, and Mr. Haynes, 1664.
On the 12th of February, 1670, under their ministry, the church divided. Thirty-two members, who withdrew from the church, were regularly organised into a new church, in the south part of the town, and Mr. Whiting be- came their pastor. He died in 1689. Mr. Haynes, who re- mained sole pastor, after the separation, died May 24th, 1679, in the 38th year of his age, and the 15th of his ministry. The division of the church, though amicably effected at the time, was doubtless hastened by the dif- ference of sentiment, which had long existed among the brethren, relative to the qualifications of church mem- bers, the subjects of baptism, and the mode of discipline. A party, urged on by State influence, had long been gaining strength in the country, who were for lowering the terms of admission to the church. They wished to enjoy the privilege of membership, so far as to be regard- ed as professors of religion and have their children baptized, without being required to exhibit evidence of personal piety, or come to the communion. This in- troduced what was called the half way covenant. The plan, it is said, originated in this state. It was formally discussed and adopted at a meeting of ministers in Boston in 1657, and ratified anew in all its essential features, by a general synod in 1662. This wretched system of compromise, though at first strongly opposed by a great number of the ministers and churches, subse- quently came to be generally adopted and resulted in immense mischief to the cause of religion. Mr. Whiting and a part of the church, zealous for the strictly congre- gational way, as practised by the first ministers and
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churches of New England, were decidedly opposed to the change, as a great and dangerous innovation. Mr. Haynes and a majority of the congregation were not less disposed to favour it; and the difference, as before stated, resulted in the formation of the second or south church.
Isaac Foster succeeded Mr. Haynes in the pastoral office in this church. His ministry was short, con- tinuing only three years. He was ordained near the close of the year 1679, or the begining of 1680, and died January 1683. He graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1671. The late Dr. Strong remarks of him, that 'he was eminent for piety and died young.' This is the only record that remains of him, and though brief, it is honorable, and places him among the just whose memory is blessed.
The next pastor of this church was the Rev. Timothy Woodbridge, who graduated at Harvard College in 1675, was ordained Nov. 18th 1685, and died April 30th, 1732, at a very advanced age, and in the 47th year of his ministry. Time has swept away nearly all the ma- terials from which we might draw the character of Mr. Woodbridge, or learn the history of his protracted minis-
try .* In a sermon preached at the dedication of this house in 1807, Dr. Strong says ; ' many who are now in the grave, have related to us, how they were convinced of sin, and enlightened into a knowledge of the truth under his ministry.' Judging from the time-worn and very imperfect records of his ministry, in my possession,
* The only records that remain of the church, previous to my ministry, are contained in a small leather bound duodecimo volume, and relate chiefly to admissions to the church, baptisms, acts of discipline and deaths. They com- mence with the settlement of Mr. Woodbridge in 1685 and are confined to his ministry and that of his two successors, Rev. Messrs. Wadsworth and Dorr. The entire records of Dr. Strong's ministry are lost.
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I should form a decidedly favourable opinion of his piety and diligence, and of his sincere exertions to promote the spiritual welfare of his people. He bore an active part in the measures which resulted in the founding of Yale College in 1700. He was also a member of the conven- tion that met at Saybrook in 1708, to form a constitution of government for the churches in this State. He lived in a period of great and wide spread spiritual declension. The piety of the pilgrim fathers had passed away. The serious and strict religion, that characterized the early churches of New England, had been supplanted by great formality and deadness. Laxer views of doctrine had extensively obtained in the country ; and the practice of admitting persons to the church on the half way cove- nant, as it was called, which had gradually been gaining ground since the meeting of the synod in 1662, exerted a most blighting influence upon the interests of vital re- ligion. Whether Mr. Woodbridge was at first an advo- cate of the practice does not appear. The great body of the church we know were in favor of it; and from the fact that it was fully introduced and acted upon in the early part of his ministry,* it is probable that the senti- ments of the pastor coincided with those of his people, and both were left to the sad results of falling into so great an error. The power of the ministry was crippled and the vitality of the church paralized. The custom of owning the covenant was resorted to in the place of sound conversion ; and those who had gotten part of the way into the church seemed generally well satisfied to go no further. Hence, while great numbers were induced to come for- ward and own the covenant, very few entered the church in full communion, and the number of members who came to the sacrament was lamentably small. The
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