USA > Connecticut > New London County > Hadlyme > Manual of the Congregational church and history of the church and parish in Hadlyme, Connecticut, with a list of the principal officers and an entire list of the members from its organization, June 26, 1745; and a list of present officers and members to 1913 > Part 1
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Gc 974.602 H117m 1851476
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00075 1195
4484
Manual
of the
Congregational Church
And History of the Church and Parish in Tadlume, Ommertirut,
With a List of the Principal Officers and an entire List of the Members from its Organization,
June 26, 1745;
and a List of Present Officers and Members tu
December 1, 1913.
"All religion has relation to life : and the life of religion is to do good." " T'is greatly wise to talk with our past hours, And ask them what report they bore to heaven." -Young.
" And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her: and the Highest himself shall establish her."
Psalm 87,-5.
"For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 3: 11.
Prepared by the Pastor, Rev. Clarence C. Lyon.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/manualofcongrega00hadl
1851476
D Hadlyme, Conn. Congregational church.
2846392 .38
CHILD CARD
Manual of the Congregational church and history of the church and parish in Hadlyne, Connectient, with a list of the principal officers and an entire list of the members from its organization, June 26, 1745; and a list of present officers and members to December 1, 1913 ... Prepared by the pastor, Rev. Clarence C. Lyon. (Hartford, The Hartford printing co., 1914) 32, 32A-32v, 33 66 p. illus. (incl. ports.) 23". "List of authorities, Congregational history and principles": p. 66. 1. Lyon, Clarence C. It. Title. ..
15 2510
1 1/052 Tubrary of Congress
MANUAL HISTORY
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 1
HADLYME, CONN.
JUNE 25, 1745
DECEMBER 1, 1913
HARTFORD, CONN .: PRESS OF THE HARTFORD PRINTING CO., 16 STATE ST., (ELIHU GEER SONS.) 1914.
2ND
173911
J
DXX46392.38
-
To friends in Hadlyme :
Members of this Household of Faith, and all who have brought to my life courage and inspiration, I humbly dedicate this Manual and History. .
THE HARTFORD PRINTING CO., ELIHU GEER SONS 16 STATE ST., HARTFORD, CONN.
Table of Contents.
Preface,
5
Introduction, .
6
The Society Incorporated,
7
Houses of Worship,
10
Homes of the Pastors,
IO
Pastors and Ministers,
12
Deacons, .
23
Historical Notes, Hadlyme Parish,
24
History of the Pastorates,
32
Church Music,
40
Corporate Organization of the Church,
43
Duties,
46
Church Rules,
47
I. Membership, .
47
II. Communion, .
49
III. Discipline,
49
Congregational Principles,
50
Confession of Faith and Covenant,
51
Form of Confession of Faith, .
5 I
Form of Church Covenant,
52
Form of Acceptance of Baptismal Covenant, .
53
Form of Administration of Baptism to Adults,
53
Complete List of Members 1745-1913,
'54
Officers of the Church,
60 60
I. Sunday School, 60
II. Christian Endeavor Society, . 61
III. Ladies Aid Society, 61
Members of the Church December Ist, 1913, . 62
.
Auxillary Organizations,
.
B14052
4
Appendix.
II.
I. Ministers of this Church or Natives of this Parish, 63 Natives of this Parish Liberally or Professionally Educated, 63
III. Natives of this Parish Pursuing Collegiate Study, 65
IV. Noteworthy Natives or Residents of this Parish, . 65
V. The Faithful Circle of King's Daughters, 66
VI. List of Authorities, Congregational History and Principles, 66
Illustrations.
First Church,
32A
Second (Present) Church,
32A
First Parsonage, 32E
Second Parsonage, owned .and occupied by Rev. Joseph Vaill, 32E
Third Parsonage,
32F
Present Parsonage, 32F .
Portrait of Rev. Joseph Vaill, .
32B
Portrait of Rev. Joseph Vaill, D. D.
. 32B
Portrait of Rev. Henry M. Vaill,
. 32B
. Portrait of Rev. Stephen A. Loper, 328
Portrait of Rev. Elias B. Hillard,
32B
Portrait of Rev. Henry White Jones,
32℃
Portrait of Rev. Michael J. Callan,
32℃
Portrait of Rev. William Clift,
32℃
Protrait of Rev. George H. Burgess,
32C
Protrait of Rev. Clarence C. Lyon,
.
32℃
Protrait of Deacon Elijah Comstock,
32 D
Portrait of Deacon Frederick A. Tiffany,
321)
Portrait of Deacon William C. Spencer,
321)
Portrait of Deacon Silas R. Holmes,
32D
. Protrait of Deacon Charles W. Harrison, 32D
Portrait of William S. Hungerford,
· 320
.
.
.
5
Urefare.
At the annual church meeting held on the afternoon of Tuesday, January 3d, 1911, it was voted to revise the church * manual. The following named committee were chosen: the Pastor with Joseph W. Hungerford, Henry C. Parker, Charles H. Rich, Almon Day and Mrs. H. M. Luther.
The preparation of this manual has taken much time and involved painstaking care. Accuracy has been aimed at in all historical statements and dates. The wealth of local history in a parish nearly one hundred and seventy-five years old has added considerable material to the work, thus embody- ing it in a permanent form where it can be had for reference and preservation.
In the preparation of this manual I wish to express my appreciation to the Clerk of the church, who has kindly co- operated with me, giving valuable suggestions; aiding in the verification of portions of. the manuscript; and in the prepar- ation of the membership list. To the members of the com- mittee and others I wish to express my thanks for valuable aid.
I would make especial acknowledgement to Rev. Edmund Grindal Rawson, Ardmore, Pa .; Judge Francis H. Parker, Hartford; and to the Librarian of the Congregational House, Boston, for valuable information and suggestions.
Also grateful recognition, in behalf of the church, is made to Mr. Everett S. Geer, Hartford, for his deep interest in this work, making its publication possible.
If the preparation of this manual shall serve well the interests of the church, and give renewed interest in our local and ecclesiastical history, the writer will be amply rewarded.
CLARENCE C. LYON, Pastor.
* The last church manual was published in 1891, the committee for revision was appointed November, 1890, consisting of Rev. Geo. H. Burgess, Dea. S. R. Holmes and C. W. Harrison.
6
Introduction.
Perhaps the best introduction to this manual will be an abstract of a petition to the Mother Church for the privilege of holding meetings during the winter months taken from the records of the First Ecclesiastical Society of East Haddam.
WHEREAS, we ye inhabitants of East Haddam living at a great distance from ye publick worship of God do pray that ye first society of East Haddam would give us ye subscribers liberty to have a minister to preach ye gospel amongst us for four months from ye first of January until the last day of April next including ye date hereof at our cost and charge, and we pay our part in Mr. Hosmer's salary notwithstanding.
East Haddam, (Dec.) 19th 1735.
CHRISTOPHER HOLMES, JOHN HUNGERFORD and others.
·
The prayer of the petitioners was granted at a society meeting held December 30th, 1735.
7
The Society Incorporated.
The Hadlyme Ecclesiastical Society was organized in 1742. The church * was organized with eleven members on the 20th of June, 1745, at the house of Lieut. John Comstock, and on the 18th of the following September the Rev. Grindal Rawson was installed its pastor.
The following is from the original record:
"Att a General Assembly holden att New Haven on the 14th Day of October Ano: dom-1742- Upon the memorial of Isaac Willey, Stephen Scovil, John Comstock and other mem- bers of the first Society in East Haddam and the third Society in Lyme, preferred to this Assembly in May Last and the Report of the Comitte thereon-to this Assembly in their pres- ent Sessions proposing that ye memorials: st be formed into a Distinct Society for carrying on ye worship of God a-mongst themselves according to ye bounds &c-Limits therein Specified. This Assembly Do Enact Decree and Order That Ye said Isaac Willey, Stephen Scovil, John Comstock and the Rest of the Inhabitants of the Parrish hereafter Described be and they are here by Imbodied and made one Distinct Ecclesiastical Society by the name of Hadlyme, and that ye Bounds thereof to be as follows.
Teste George Willeys, Secretary.
The original survey of the parish is thus described in the records:
"Beginning at a whiteoak tree Standing by the Great River, being accounted ye bounds between Lyme and East Haddam, thence Running Southerly to William Clemons, (including Mr. Selden's farm by the River,) thence Eastward from said Clemon's house unto ye house where Consider Tiffany now
* John Hungerford was the moderator of the meeting when the church was organized; he came with his father to Hadlyme when four- teen years of age.
8
lives, including that house, thence running northeasterly to the South East corner of James Moss's farm, thence running northerly by said Moss's land to the reputed bounds of East Haddam. Then beginning at said whitoak Tree by the river, from thence extending one mile and three quarters north by the River and from the extreme of that extent easterly to James Booge's house, including said house, thence Easterly to Elijah Ackley's house, including said house thence east unto the Line of Millington Parrish, and from thence southerly by said Millington line unto the Line between s'd East Haddam and Lyme, and by Last mentioned line, unto Moss's land aforesaid."
"At a council convened at HADLYME PARISH, at the desire of the brethren of said Parish, and met at the house of Lieut. JOHN COMSTOCK, then June 26th, 1745.
PRESENT:
The Rev. Messrs. STEPHEN HOSMER,
GEORGE BECKWITH, Elders. THOMAS SKINNER,
JEREMIAH GATES, Deacon,
DANIEL ELY, Esq.,
BENJAMIN COLT, JOHN GATES,
Messengers.
HENRY CHAMPION, ELEAZAR SMITH, Deacon,
This Council opened with prayer; and then the council being informed of an act of the General Assembly of this government, constituting this society a distinct ecclesiastical society for divine worship, by the name of HADLYME SOCIETY, as by a copy of said act of the Assembly, bearing date October 14th, 1742, and signed by the secretary of said commonwealth, appears. And a number of the brethren, inhabitants of this parish, produced to this council the certificates of their good standing in the respective churches to which they belonged, and desired thereupon to be embodied into a church. This coun- cil, therefore, drew up for them the confession of faith and other articles of confederation, to which they all assenting and consenting; signed the same as follows:"- ( Here we have the confession and covenant.)
9
I. Viz., We agree that particular societies of Biblical saints who under Christ their head are rated and joined together for ordinary communion with one another in all the ordinances of Christ are particular churches and are to be owned by each other as justified churches of Christ though differing in appre- hension and practice in some lesser things.
2. But none shall be admitted members in order to com- munion in all the special ordinances of the gospel, but such persons as are knowing and sound in the fundamental doc- trines of the Christian religion without scandal in their lives and to a judgment are regulated by the word of God and are persons of Biblical holiness and honesty credibly professing cordial subjection to Jesus Christ.
3. A competent number of such visible saints as before described became the capable subjects of stated communion in all the special ordinances of Christ upon their mutual declared consent and agreement to walk together therein according to gospel rule in which declaration different degrees of explicit- ness should no ways hinder such churches from owning each other as instituted churches.
On June 26th, 1745, the following members whose names are here underwritten subscribed to the above written con- fession of faith and acts of confederation, as their free volun- tary act, and on the 18th of September, 1745, at the desire of the installing council before mentioned, Grindal Rawson whom that day was set over the church and congregation in Hadlyme, pastor, set his hand thereto both assenting and consenting to the above said articles of confederation.
"GRINDAL RAWSON, Pastor,
JOHN HUNGERFORD,
JOHN COMSTOCK,
SAMUEL CROSBY,
SAMUEL DUTTON,
EPHRAIM FULLER,
CHRISTOPHER HOLMES,
JOHN MILLARD, JOHN COMSTOCK, 3d,
JOHN COMSTOCK, 2d, WILLIAM COMSTOCK."
The records show that those fathers were earnest, perse- vering men. Proceeding at once to business, they employed various candidates to preach to them, before the organization of the church and the settlement of Mr. RAWSON.
10
Timises of Worship.
December 9th, 1742, a Society Meeting ( of which Capt. JOHN HUNGERFORD was the moderator), proceeded to make arrangements for the building of a Meeting House; the record goes on :-
"At the same meeting it was then and there voted the Meeting House which said society have a Greed to build, shall be in length forty and six foot, and in width it shall be thirty and five foot, and the posts to said house shall bee twenty foot long. 'Same time ' it was voted that the place for the meeting house to stand upon, should Bee on the Nole west of JOB BECKWITH's house."
Said Meeting House was probably raised in the summer of 1743, after sending CHRISTOPHER HOLMES as a committee "to the Legislature to obtain liberty to raise the same."
It was taken down in the fall of 1840, and the present *edifice erected on the same site, was completed the same year, and dedicated on the 6th of January, 1841.
* Building Committee William Spencer, Samuel S. Warner, Ozias Holmes, Ansel Hungerford and John S. Wells.
Tomes of the Hastors.
First parsonage was built by Rev. Grindal Rawson in 1747, two years after his settlement. Here his son, Rev. E. G. Rawson, lived and brought up a large family. It was the home of clergymen for nearly one hundred years. It is now standing, and in a comfortable degree of preservation. The original covering is still on the west side of the building. For many years this house has been owned and occupied by N. Augustus Mather.
11
Second was a brown house, the home of the second pastor, Rev. Joseph Vaill, bought and retained by him until his re- moval from Hadlyme in 1836. The site of this homestead was about half a mile northeast of the late William E. Hungerford's, and nearly opposite the house formerly occu- pied by George Howell. "His garden, his orchard, the little land which he tilled; his buildings; and everything per- taining to his fences; his domestic animals and the general appearance of the whole, bore testimony to his industry. In this brown house they lived happy in each other; happy in their children; happy in the people among whom they dwelt, and contented with the allotments of Providence. This hum- ble dwelling was the abode of domestic peace; of intelligence; of cheerfulness; of piety, and of hospitality. A stranger could not pass a night in that Christian family without feeling that religion casts a loveliness over the domestic circle, and that the sweetest joys of earthly friendship are shared in the family." *
The third parsonage was built in 1820. It was bought of Edward C. Hungerford and Mrs. Huldah Brooks, May, 1855, for $850, by William Spencer and S. S. Warner, the committee appointed by the church. Possession was given the first of the following September. It was destroyed by fire October 5th, 1908.
The fourth and present parsonage was begun in January, 1909, and completed early in July. The cost was three thousand dollars, and all the contracting bills were paid upon the completion of the building. The Building Committee con- sisted of :
H. M. LUTHER, Chairman.
F. C. ROSE, Builder.
H. C. PARKER, Treasurer.
* From the life of Rev. Joseph Vaill by Rev. Isaac Parsons, pp. 55 and 56.
12
Pastors and Ministers.
"May 4th, 1743, it was voted that Rev. Isaac Chalker should preach among us. On the following December it was voted that Rev. Samuel Briant be called upon probation until the first of May next." Other ministers were called, but Mr. Chalker and Mr. Briant seem to have been the principal preachers before the settlement of Mr. Rawson.
Rev. Isaac Chalker was born in Saybrook, Conn., September 12, 1707, and was the son of Lieutenant Abraham and Deborah (Barber) Chalker. He graduated from Yale College in 1728, and studied for the ministry on Long Island. He was settled as Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem. N. Y., in 1734, and remained there until 1742, when he returned to Saybrook. He began supplying the Congregational Church in East Glastonbury in December, 1743, was settled as pastor in 1744, and remained there until his death in 1765.
The Rev. Grindal Rawson,* the first pastor, was installed over the Hadlyme church September 18th, 1745. He was born September 6th, 1707; graduated at Harvard College 1728; was ordained at Hadley, Mass., October 3d, 1733. It is not known with whom he studied theology. He was the first minister in South Hadley, for a period of about nine years, resigning in 1741. He died in Hadlyme, March 27th, 1777, age 70, in the thirty-second year of his ministry to this parish, and was buried in the western part of the cemetery adjoining the church.
* The father of Grindal Rawson was graduated from Harvard College in 1678, and studied divinity with his brother-in-law, the Rev. Samuel Torry. He was settled in Mendon, Mass., was a classmate of Cotton Mather at Harvard; for a time was missionary to the Indians; and accom- panied Sir William Phip's expedition to Canada. Barber in his Historical Collections, Mass., says that he was "an excellent scholar and an eminent divine; and that the general court sometimes referred grave and seri- ous questions of ecclesiastical polity to him for decision." An item in the will of the father of Grindal Rawson of Hadlyme in relation to his son reads thus :-
13
"And with respect to my beloved son, Grindal Rawson, my Will is, That he enjoy my Library of Books, Excepting One Valuable English Book to Each of my Children; and One Hundred Pounds out of my Estate to be bestowed on him by my executrix, to bring him up to the College, hoping that what shall fall short, that God will stir up the hearts of Friends to effect, that so he may be brought up to the Work of the Ministry, To which I have dedicated him."-Jan. 24, 1714.
'The grandfather of Grindal Rawson of Hadlyme was Edward Rawson, the ancestor of this family in America, who came to Newbury in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636; was elected Secretary of this colony in 1650, which position he held until 1686. He was born in old England in 1615, and died in New England, August 27th, 1693.
Edmund Grindal Rawson, minister of the First Presbyterian Church, Ardmore, Pa., a graduate of Princeton College and Auburn Theological Seminary, is the fifth in descent from Rev. Grindal Rawson of Hadlyme.
Dr. Field in his History of East Haddam says of him. "He was a plain preacher, gifted in prayer, remarkably sociable, and had an uncommon talent for reconciling parties at varience." His wife was Dorothy Chauney, daughter of Rev. Isaac Chauncy, D. D., a grandson of the Rev. Charles Chauncy, the second President of Harvard. (Sisters of Dorothy Chauncy married Rev. John Graham, the first minis- ter of Stafford; Rev. Daniel Russell of Rocky Hill; and Rev. Hobart Easterbrook, the second minister of the Millington church.) Edmund Grindal, the eldest son of Dorothy and Grindal Rawson, graduated at Yale, studied theology and subsequently preached occasionally. He lived in the house occupied by his father, died July 21st, 1823, age 85.
Mr. Rawson was given 300-1. old tenort for settlement, and 150-1. salary for the first year, which was increased 5-1. till it amounted to 170-1. yearly. He was also given a site for a home, and 100-1. in labor towards building his house.
Rev. Matthew Scribner occupied the pulpit, from the death of Mr. Rawson, until the beginning of 1778. He was the youngest son of Benjamin Scribner of Norwalk, Conn., was born February 7th, 1746, graduated from Yale College in 1775. His wife was the daughter of Dr. Uriah Rogers. Their
+ Old tenor currency consisted of bills of credit issued by the state. It varied in value; silver was the standard.
14
son, Uriah Rogers Scribner, was the father of Charles Scribner, Sr., the grandfather of the present publishers, Charles Scrib- ner's Sons. His College Diploma is in the hands of Arthur H. Scribner of New York City, also a copy of a testimonial by a society of Elizabethtown, N. J., where he resided for a time before entering Yale, which testifies "to his high character and the admiration and affection of his fellow associates."
Rev. Samuel Collins supplied from March, 1778, to the time when Mr. Vaill began to preach on probation. Mr. Col- lins was born at Lebanon, Conn., in 1747, was ordained pastor of the Congregational church at Sandown, N. H., December 27th, 1780, and was installed over the Presbyterian church in Hanover Center, N. H., November 25th, 1778. He died at Craftsbury, Vt., January 7th, 1807.
Rev. Joseph Vaill, the second installed pastor of the church, was ordained February 9th, 1780, and was the sole minister to this church until the installation of Mr. Crampton in 1832, covering a period of fifty-two years. He, however, continued to assist in pastoral service, always occupying a seat on the pulpit platform on the Sabbath day until he took up his residence in Killingworth in 1836.
Mr. Vaill was born at Litchfield, Conn., July 14th, 1751 ; he was the son of Mr. Joseph Vaill, who removed from Hartford early in the settlement of that town, and grandson of Daniel Vaill of Southold, L. I.
He was brought up a Congregationalist and early received careful instruction in religious knowledge and the duties of life. When about twenty years of age, during an illness, he decided to obtain an education with a view to the Christian ministry.
Accompanied by two students, and a horse to carry their luggage, and upon which the youngest and most feeble might ride, with fifteen shillings in his pocket, he started for Dart- mouth College, September 28th, 1772, arriving at the College Mills, Hanover, N. H., October 5th; the distance traveled being 180 miles. In obtaining his collegiate education, great self-sacrifice, persistence, and hardship were manifested; but a kind Providence opened the way and supplied him with needed things in the time of his greatest want.
15
He graduated from Dartmouth in 1778, and studied Divinity with the Rev. Mr. Storrs of Northbury, (now Ply- mouth) and upon his recommendation was licensed to preach the Gospel May 23d, 1779. After preaching in Hadlyme for twenty Sabbaths a call was extended him to become their min- ister. His consent to do so was given on the first of January, 1780.
He married Miss Sarah Fowler .* Two of their sons entered the ministry. William F. was a missionary to the Osage Indians, State of Illinois; and Joseph was pastor of several churches in New England. Both of these sons re- ceived their preparatory education under the tuition of their father, studied Divinity under him, and received words of instruction and council at their ordinations, he preaching the sermons. *
His farewell address was given to the people of Hadlyme, March 27th, 1836.
He died November 21st, 1838, at the home of his son- in-law in Killingworth in the 88th year of his age, and the 59th of his ministry, still retaining his pastoral relations to this church.
His funeral services were attended in the old meeting house on the 23d inst., an occasion of solemn interest to the neighboring pastors, and the people of the surrounding region.
His biography was written by that eminent servantt of God, ( who also preached his funeral sermon from the Text, Matt. 25; 23, ) pastor of the mother church for nearly 40 years, and his associate in the privileges and trials of the Gospel ministry for more than twenty years. His venerable form was laid to rest, hard by the ancient church in which he had preached the word of life for more than half a century.
* Daughter of Rev. Joseph Fowler. Mr. Fowler was the second pastor of the First Congregational church, East Haddam. He was in- stalled May 15th, 1751 ; died 1771, aged 48 years.
** Ordination of Wm. F., of North Guilford, 1808. Subject, "The Discriminating Teacher." Text, Jer. 15; 19.
Ordination of Joseph, Brimfield, Mass., 1814. Subject: "The Son of God Manifested to Destroy the Works of the Devil." Text, Ist John 3; 8.
+ Rev. Isaac Parsons, pastor of the First Church in East Haddam, graduated from Yale, 1811; Andover Seminary, 1815; died August 21st, 1868, aged 78 years.
16
Rev. Ralph Seymour Crampton was born at Guilford, (now Madison ), Conn., October 23d, 1799; he was graduated from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1826; ordained pas- tor at Woodstock, Conn., in 1827. Mr. Crampton * was installed May 23d, 1832, as colleague with Mr. Vaill, and honorably dismissed November 5th, 1834. During the last seventeen years of his life he resided at Rochester, N. Y., where he died March 25th, 1864.
The Rev. George Carrington was a native of Canaan, Conn. After a pastorate in North Goshen he was installed second colleague pastor with Mr. Vaill, February 25th, 1835, and on the removal of Mr. Vaill to Killingworth in 1836, became the sole pastor.
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