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HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S PARISH, NEW HAVEN
1830 - 1930
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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01104 3236
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ST. PAUL'S CHURCH TODAY
HISTORY OF ST. PAUL'S ¿ PARISH, NEW HAVEN
1830-1930
BY FRANCES BISHOP BARNEY
"Other Foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Words used by Dr. Croswell in the Laying of the Cornerstone, April 18, 1829.
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PRINTING AND BINDING BY QUINNIPIACK PRESS, INC. NEW HAVEN, CONN.
1231509
This History is published under the auspices of the following:
Rector HOWARD R. WEIR
Wardens
WILLIAM O. PARDEE
JOHN W. HUTT
Chairman of General Committee SAMUEL A. YORK
Committee on History
FRANCES B. BARNEY
MARY S. HOLLISTER
EUNICE W. BARNEY . ELIZABETH HOTCHKISS
ELIZABETH C. HALL MARY LOUISE PARDEE
LINA M. PHIPPS
T O write a century's history of a large down- town parish is like making a cross-section of the life of the city where it is located. The people of St. Paul's have always represented all classes and have come, except in the first twenty-five years, from many sections of the city. Civic relations have always been maintained by the rectors, who have been interested in all philanthropic and social betterment activities of the community. The ideal of the parish has been, "an uncalculating service to the bodies and souls of men." And, while the ideal has not always been attained, at least there has been a constant striving to- wards it.
The cornerstone of the present great stone church was laid on April 21st, 1829.
New Haven in 1829 was a very different place from the large busy city of today. There were only ten thousand inhabitants. Packets and stages ran back and forth between New York and New Haven, but the railroad was not built until 1845. In 1829 the Canal was built after much discussion of a rather acrimonious nature. The Connecticut Journal, which favored the enterprise, printed in its editorial the following crush- ing and eloquent paragraph: "This canal will shine with meridian splendor when its opposers shall have been for years and ages shrouded in darkness." In the same Journal, at the time of the first steam railroad, appeared this prophecy: "Gentlemen will keep their own
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History of St. Paul's Parish
steam coaches. When a gentleman would take a ride he has only to direct 'John to put the kettle on' and whiff away in a hurry!"
A sloop ran occasionally to Boston. A large lottery with first prize of $5,000 was in flourishing operation at the corner of Church and Crown Streets and duly advertised in the newspapers! A Young Ladies' School advertised that "the intellectual, moral and religious improvement of the pupils" would be carefully and earnestly pursued at the price of $6.00 per quarter! The Whipping Post was still standing on the Green and in use in 1830. Its last victim was whipped there in 1831. There were no theatres and the dramatic entertainments of the famous Lancasterian School were looked forward to with great eagerness. All these in- cidents indicate the primitive and simple quality of life in the town. The section of New Haven sur- rounding Wooster Square was then an outlying resi- dence district, known as the "new township". The streets were lined with trees and fine old houses. Wooster Square was pasture land until 1825, when it was bought by the city for six thousand dollars from Abraham Bishop. It contains four and two-thirds acres. The elm trees in it were planted by James Hillhouse, who brought them, for both Greens, from his Meriden farm. He enlisted the interest and labor of other good citizens, including Caroline Shipman, who superintend- ed the watering of the newly planted trees.
The Episcopal Church in New Haven was estab- lished, in the beginning, by the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel of the Church of England. As early as 1752, a deed of land on Church street near Chapel was made for the purpose of erecting a church, and a missionary of the Society was in charge. There was
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History of St. Paul's Parish
great prejudice, even animosity, towards the Episcopal Church in the early days, and during the Revolution it often reached an acute stage. There were a few families who had brought with them from the mother country a strong attachment to the faith of their fathers and to the primitive order and worship of the Church. Under the devoted ministration of men like Punderson, Palmer and Hubbard, the parish of Trinity Church prospered and grew. It was found necessary to enlarge the simple wooden structure on Church Street several times until, in 1816, the erection of a new and larger church was absolutely necessary. So the present Trinity Church was built upon the public square and it was then the largest Protestant Church in the Union!
The Rev. Dr. Croswell became rector in 1815, and under his devoted leadership the congregation increased so mightily that twelve years later they felt it necessary to build "a chapel of ease" in a new and growing resi- dential section. The land on the corner of Chapel and Olive Streets, bought for this purpose, in December 1 827, was part of the estate of Timothy Bonticou, whose house was on the corner of Olive and Wooster Streets. The communicants of Trinity Church had more than doubled since its consecration in 1816, and there were over 500 families.
The funds for building the new chapel were procured by subscription to stock created for that purpose, a rath- er novel scheme. Fifteen thousand dollars had been subscribed by August, 1828. A contract was given by the committee to Sidney M. Stone, the plans having been made by Sherman Croswell. The cornerstone was laid on Easter Even, April 18, 1829. There was a procession including the Sunday School, Singers, Ward- ens and Vestry, Building Committee, Contractors and
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History of St. Paul's Parish
Clergy. The street was full of citizens. The clergy of other denominations were invited and part of them attended, also President Day of Yale. The following is a copy of the inscription which, in a glass receptacle, together with a Prayer Book and other documents was deposited in the cornerstone:
In the Name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost, Amen. This corner stone of ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL (erected as a Chapel of ease to Trinity Church in this city) was laid on the 18th day of April, A. D., 1829. By the Rev. Harry Croswell, The Rt. Rev. Thomas Church Brownell being Bishop of the Diocese.
The Rev. Harry Croswell, Rector of Trinity Church, New Haven.
The Rev. Francis L. Hawks, Assistant Minister of the same.
Gilbert Totten, William McCracken, Wardens of Trinity Church.
Joseph N. Clarke, Francis B. Winthrop, Enos A Prescott, Caleb Mix, Philip S. Galpin, Building Committee. Sidney M. Stone, Contractor and Master Builder. Isaac Thomson, Edward Hine, Edwin Peck, Masons. The plans designed and drawn by Sherman Croswell.
The new chapel was finished and consecrated April 22, 1830. It was called "a fine, round-Gothic structure of substantial stone-work, 101 feet in length including the towers, with an audience room 80 by 60 and a lecture and vestry room in the basement occupying the same space". Most parish churches in those days were on the order of the New England Meeting House, and arched windows were the only distinguishing mark of
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History of St. Paul's Parish
the Episcopal edifices. Chancels such as we know did not exist, and the pulpit was used both for prayers and ser- mon, as in the Congregational churches. When a sur- plice was worn, the clergyman usually passed down the aisle, or climbed down a concealed stairway, to reach the vestry room, where he changed it for a black gown in which to deliver his sermon. The latter arrange- ment existed in St. Paul's.
The pulpit at St. Paul's was constructed for a tall man, and when a short man used it he had to be propped up by temporary expedients to bring him into view of the congregation! Dr. E. E. Beardsley, former rector of St. Thomas' Church, told an amusing tale of a small clergyman coming to St. Paul's in the early days from another town for a diocesan convention, in order to preach a sermon on behalf of the Society for the Propa- gation of Christian Knowledge. He came by stage coach and was delayed. At last he hurriedly appeared and ascended the pulpit. No arrangements had been made for his height, so standing on his toes, peering over the breast-work, he breathlessly announced his text: "By whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small"!
In those days the towers above the roof were of wood. It is said that one of the workmen on the west tower cut in one of the stones three of the four aces, which were discovered some years later by an enterpris- ing person leaning out of the tower window.
The new parish of St. Paul's started under the most encouraging auspices. All the officers were communi- cants and showed a spirit of harmony which augured well for the prosperity of the church. The first rental of pews exceeded in amount the expectations of the most enthusiastic and yielded a sum sufficient to cover the current expenses of the year.
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History of St. Paul's Parish
Dr. Croswell, in his sermon at the laying of the corner-stone, spoke these words; "Let us earnestly en- treat our Heavenly Father to shed upon the rising gen- eration the abundance of His grace, that, planted and nurtured in this House of the Lord, they may deliver the trust committed to them unimpaired to their poster- ity, and that generation after generation may rise up to worship and glorify God in this earthly temple." His pious wish was certainly fulfilled!
For fifteen years St. Paul's was a chapel of Trinity parish and was ministered to by the assistants of the mother church, which also grew and prospered. By the year 1843, it was earnestly believed by a large number that the welfare of all concerned demanded that a separation should take place. There was much discus- sion over certain legal questions involved, but at last, in March, 1845, the Society of Trinity Church at their annual meeting authorized the transfer of the Chapel and lot to a new Society of St. Paul's Church. So the organization of an independent parish was carried out. Wardens: N. Farren Clarke and Nathan Smith. Clerk: John C. Hollister. Vestrymen: Truman Woodward, James F. Babcock, John C. Hollister, Elias Pierpont, William A. Reynolds, Charles Hooker, Charles Peter- son, Sidney Thomas, Stephen D. Pardee, William H. Elliott, and Russell Hotchkiss.
The cost of the building, lot, and organ, was $ 18,900, which under the terms of separation became an obliga- tion of the new society, and which, we may remark, it took many years to pay off. In the fifteen years of ex- istence of St. Paul's Chapel, the Episcopal Church in New Haven had more than doubled in numbers and efficiency.
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History of St. Paul's Parish
A committee was appointed to nominate a rector at St. Paul's, and recommended the Rev. Samuel Cooke of Geneva, N. Y. He was elected at a Parish Meeting held July 22, 1845, upon a salary of $1,500. He ac- cepted the call, but did not enter upon his duties till November. Before Mr. Cooke came to St. Paul's the church was closed for several months in order to reno- vate it.
A publication of that date says: "The internal ap- pearance of the building as received from Trinity Church was quite plain. The walls and ceiling had but little of ornament. The large windows were without mullions and glazed, with small diamond-shaped panes of ground glass. The chancel was not recessed, but pro- jected into the audience room. The pulpit was placed against the south wall, with the communion table and a reading desk in front. A screen on either side of the pulpit concealed on the one hand the pulpit stairs, and on the other a stairway leading to the vestry room in the basement. On the wall over the pulpit was a large painting of the crucifixion of our Saviour, presented to Trinity Church in 1838 by Lieut. William C. Craney, which had once occupied a prominent place in the Church of San Francisco, at Cadiz, Spain.
The proposed changes in the church contemplated taking down in part the rear wall, and extending it to the south line of the lot, making a square recessed chancel about ten feet deep, a new ornamental ceiling of wood, stained in imitation of dark English oak, and lowering the galleries to their present form. A small robing room also was added.
The Rev. Mr. Cooke was instituted into the rector- ship by Bishop Brownell, January 14, 1845. At the Annual Convention in June the following statistics were
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History of St. Paul's Parish
reported: Families, 245. Communicants, 240. Sunday School pupils, 108.
The Sunday School was held in the room under the church at this time and for many years to come. In Mr. Cooke's time, the desk of the superintendent was on the south side under the clock; the seats were straight-backed, not very comfortable, and faced the entrance, which was the present side basement door. In 1830 two sessions of the School were held, one at half-past eight in the morning, at the close of which the school was dismissed in sections, which proceeded with their teachers immediately to church where seats were assigned to them. In the afternoon the School met again ten minutes after the close of Evening Prayer at four o'clock. The members of each class were ques- tioned by the teachers on the text and sermon of that service!
Library books were a great feature of that day and, in fact, for many years to come. There was no public library in New Haven until 1880, and children's books were not easily obtained in any other way, so the Sun- day School books were much in demand. They were usually distributed only to those pupils whose attend- ance and behavior were good. There were young men appointed as librarians and a strict record kept. The Sunday School library was not given up until as late as 1905. The books were generally excellent and al- though some of them were, to our thought, nauseating- ly pious, most of them were both valuable and interest- ing to the children.
The afternoon sessions of the Sunday School were discontinued in 1833. At the time of Mr. Cooke's rectorship the school was held at nine o'clock in the morning. General Hallenbeck was superintendent for
SAMUEL COOKE FIRST RECTOR 1845-1851
ABRAM N. LITTLEJOHN SECOND RECTOR 1851-1860
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EDWARD S. BROWN THIRD RECTOR 1860-1868
FRANCIS LOBDELL FOURTH RECTOR 1869-1879
THE FIRST FOUR RECTORS OF ST. PAUL'S
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History of St. Paul's Parish
eight years, and was deeply interested in the work; Mrs. Mary Brown was superintendent "of the female department", succeeding Mrs. Elias Pierpont. John C. Hollister, librarian, Robert Peet and Robert Smith, visiting committee. General Hallenbeck resigned in 1850 and was succeeded by William H. Elliott, Jr., and then by James S. Redfield. Miss Sarah Rowland was teacher of the infant class at this time.
Rev. Mr. Cooke's ministry from 1846 to 1850 was very successful. The congregations increased steadily ; the pews were nearly all rented and the attendance at the evening services was as large as in the morning! The Rev. Cornelius S. Smith, preaching at the fiftieth anni- versary of his ordination in 1905, in St. Paul's, recalled his impressions of Dr. Cooke's preaching, which was considered very fine. He said of the evening services: "Long before the doors were opened the crowd began to gather. At the click of the lock the doors parted and the crowd flowed in like water, gurgled(!) quickly up the gallery stairs and rushed for all the steps between the pews, while another wave entered the Church be- low, dissolving itself into two rows of people on the chancel steps and filling the stairway of the pulpit. Then came Sexton Cumming (who afterward, being wounded in a street accident, came to die before his furnace like a priest before his altar) and he seated the rest of the crowd standing at the back, so far as was possible. The rector entered all alone, no assistant and no choir. In the hush before the sermon the people made way for the preacher to enter the pulpit."
Certainly in those days, church services seem to have been as popular as the movies are today. But we must remember there were then no theatres of any kind in New Haven!
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History of St. Paul's Parish
Being a preacher of such popular gifts, Dr. Cooke was naturally bidden to a larger field. In November, 1850, he was called to St. Bartholomew's Church, in New York City, and he left in January, 1851. While he was rector a new organ was purchased and some new windows put in the church. The budget of the parish in 1850 was over $45,000, of which sum $8,000 went for missionary and benevolent purposes. Also included in this large total were $7,000 for the new windows and $2,940 for the organ. The pew rentals at this time amounted to $25,000! It was the custom to auction them to the highest bidder above a flat rate, and men were proud to pay a large sum for their pews, to do so being a sign of great gentility.
Soon after Dr. Cooke's resignation the parish began measures to get another rector. Finally, in June, 1851, the Rev. Abram N. Littlejohn, of Springfield, Mass., was elected. He accepted the call and entered on his duties in July, 1851. There were at this time 330 families, 432 communicants, 250 scholars and 31 teach- ers in the Sunday School.
In the fall of 1851, gas was first used for lighting the church at an initial expense of $ 1,000. A stone font had been given in 1847 by Mrs. Sarah Smith, mother of the then Junior Warden, Nathan Smith. In 1852 the beautiful silver Communion Service was presented by seven people: Mrs. Eliza Candee, Mrs. Jane Smith, Mrs. Harriet Cutler, William H. Elliott, Laban Pardee, Joel Ives and Frederick Merwin.
The Rev. Mr. Littlejohn at once began an aggres- sive missionary work, which finally resulted in the or- ganization of two new parishes, St. John's and the Church of The Ascension. On April 16, 1852, the vestry created a committee to organize a City Mission
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History of St. Paul's Parish
called "St. Paul's Church City Mission." The Rev. Frederick Sill was engaged as a Missionary on a salary of $600, and a Sunday School was started on the corner of William and Bradley Streets. Afterwards a Chapel was built on the corner of Eld and State Streets, which developed into the present parish of St. John's.
In 1854 The Society of St. Paul's City Mission was incorporated by the name of the Missionary and Bene- volent Society of St. Paul's Church, which continued in active operation through many years. Soon after the mission on State Street was successfully started, a site was bought on Davenport Avenue, and a Chapel was built which afterward became the present Church of The Ascension. In the maintenance of these two mis- sions during a period of about five years, St. Paul's contributed over eleven thousand dollars. It also paid the salary ($500) for two years of the Rev. Hiram Stone, the first missionary of the Episcopal Church in Kansas. All this without lessening the apportionment for General Missions!
Dr. Littlejohn truly said in a sermon preached in 1858: "So with the Church of Christ filled with the presence of the Head, its life a river whose fount is Heaven, the more it gives the richer it is; the more it spreads the stronger it is; vast colonies may migrate from one center to another, but the power of reproduc- tion soon fills the space they vacate. As with the Church, so with that local fellowship, the parish. By the opera- tion of this law God has increased us, through it en- riching our borders with the fatness of spiritual bless- ing."
"Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith?" The words of the Master come ringing down the centuries
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History of St. Paul's Parish
to often deaf ears, but sometimes fearless souls hear and are blessed.
The Sunday School in 1851 and 1852 was fortunate in the devoted services of three young men, James S. Redfield, William H. Elliott, and Robert Smith, whose names should always be honored at St. Paul's. Mr. Elliott first and then Mr. Redfield acted as Superin- tendent, Mr. Smith as teacher of the Bible Class. They also divided the parish into districts and visited from house to house, bringing in large numbers of all ages, increasing the Sunday School from 100 scholars in 1850 to 250 pupils in 1852. Mr. Elliott's health was never good, and in October 1852, he went to the West Indies, where he died at Santa Cruz. On his last Easter he sent to every member of the School a gift book in which he had written the recipient's name. This was the origin of presenting gift books for Easter which became an annual custom. Mr. Redfield died even before Mr. Elliott, when he was only twenty-two years old.
Robert Smith entered the Seminary at Alexandria, Va., to prepare for the ministry. He went to Africa as a missionary, but lived only a few months in the terrible climate of the West Coast and lies buried in Liberia. He was the founder of the Sunday School Teachers' Society. This organization began in 1849. Its object was to clothe and prepare for attendance destitute children and to carry on other benevolent work. The report of 1861 shows the Society had distri- buted 2,535 garments, and had a surplus in the bank of over $400. The registered number of teachers at this time was 31, scholars 250. Miss Elizabeth P. Hall was the first manager of the Society.
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ST. PAUL'S IN 1860
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History of St. Paul's Parish
The sum of $1,325 was also raised for the repairs of the Church.
During Dr. Littlejohn's rectorate, in November, 1852, John C. Hollister was appointed Superintendent of the Sunday School, which office he held for fifty years. His heart was in the work and he discharged his duties with zeal and fidelity.
Another active worker in the Sunday School, from 1852 to 1857, was Stephen G. Bucknall, the organist, who was also Assistant Superintendent and was uni- versally beloved.
The Parochial Society, composed of prominent wo- men, began during Dr. Littlejohn's rectorate. It has al- ways been a very important and loyal organization, de- voted to the interests of the Parish and the holding up of the hands of the rector.
Dr. Littlejohn resigned in February, 1860, to go to the Church of The Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, from which he was afterwards called to be Bishop of Long Island. He left the Parish greatly increased in num- bers, strength and missionary zeal. In the eight years while Dr. Littlejohn was rector, 301 persons were con- firmed and over $35,000 given for missions of various kinds. On his leaving the number of families was 329, communicants 521, Sunday School enrollment, both teachers and scholars, 333.
In June of the same year, 1860, the parish called the Rev. Edward S. Drown, of Dorchester, Mass., who took charge in September. During his administration the mission at Davenport Avenue became an independ- ent parish named The Church of The Ascension, with a record of 140 families and 200 in the Sunday School.
In 1866, St. Paul's purchased from the heirs of Dr. Charles Hooker the house and lot south of the Church
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History of St. Paul's Parish
used first for a rectory and later for the site of the parish house. In 1867 over a thousand dollars were raised to reduce the church debt of $8,900 to $7,500. On account of the ill health of Mr. Drown, in 1867, the Rev. Henry Fitch was engaged as assistant minister.
During this rectorate the Sunday School grew and prospered. Miss Sarah M. Rowland was teacher of the Infant Class, as the Kindergarten and First Grade was then called, for twenty-five years, resigning in 1867. She was followed by Miss Delphine Fay until 1870, when Miss E. P. Hall took her place. When Miss Hall was made Assistant Superintendent, Miss Mary A. Tuttle succeeded her until 1879, when Miss Eliza- beth H. Barney, afterwards Mrs. Burton Mansfield, took her place. There were nearly one hundred pupils in that department.
At this time the offerings were received each Sun- day from the whole School and distributed for charit- able purposes under the direction of the rector and officers. Collections for special objects were also taken. In 1870 was inaugurated the custom of keeping all the offerings till Easter, to be distributed then. Substantial sums were sent to Bishop Morris's work in Oregon and to Bishop Tuttle at Salt Lake City, besides amounts given for missionary and benevolent work nearer home.
One must not pass over an interesting anniversary service held on the first Sunday after Easter, 1861, when St. Paul's, St. John's and St. Paul's Mission (As- cension) Sunday Schools met together at St. Paul's Church. Easter Sunday was the time chosen, but "a sud- den and solemn dispensation in the family of the rector" made necessary a postponement of a week. Over six hundred children occupied the center of the Church, and the rest of the building was filled with parents, who in
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History of St. Paul's Parish
those days were interested in the religious education of their children!
Bishop Williams, of beloved memory, was present. Each class had both a motto and an emblem, besides being named for some church hero. For instance, the Young Ladies Bible Class, Teacher, Miss Eunice Gil- bert, (who had at her death the unprecedented record of fifty years teaching in the School! ) took as its emblem, The Coral Insect (we wonder where they obtained its picture ); motto: "Patient continuance in welldoing" and was named the Bishop Brownell Class. The Mis- sion School's emblem was a basket of flowers; the motto: "Cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it after many days". At the time of the offerings, four little boys walked up the aisle bearing a beautiful little model of the new St. John's Church, soon to be built. The four youngsters recited in unison the follow- ing:
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