USA > Connecticut > Litchfield County > Litchfield > St. Michael's Parish, Litchfield, Connecticut, 1745-1954; a biography of a parish and of many who have served it > Part 1
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M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00075 1187
ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH
NNN
一
St. Michael's Parish
LITCHFIELD, CONNECTICUT 1745 - 1954
A BIOGRAPHY OF
A PARISH
AND OF
MANY WHO HAVE
SERVED IT
By MARY B. BREWSTER
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/stmichaelsparish00brew
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
MANY BOOKS, in manuscript as well as in print, and many individ- uals have assisted me in compiling this history of the old parish of St. Michael's. It goes without saying that the rich manuscript collection in the safe of St. Michael's itself, consisting of old his- torical records and registers of the parish, was indispensable. The parish is fortunate to have such resources.
Of the printed books, Dr. E. E. Beardsley's History of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut was especially useful, and, with the late Hon. Origen S. Seymour's Beginnings of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut, is the source of what is found in the first chapter on the beginnings of our Church in this Diocese. The first-mentioned work also furnished much that was important on the lives and careers of our rectors through the period of Truman Marsh's incumbency. For chapters dealing with St. Michael's early history, the Rev. Isaac Jones' historical sermon, The Man- date of God for Israel's Advancement, with its appendices based so largely on the manuscript records kept by early rectors of St. Michael's and others, was invaluable. The anniversary and historical sermons of at least three other rectors, which are listed in the Bibliography, were useful. The Biographical Sketch of the Rev. Thomas Davies, A.M., by the Rev. Mr. Hitchcock, is ex- tensively quoted from. This list by no means exhausts the number of books which have been carefully read and reread. The Bib- liography at the end of this book contains the titles of others.
Of persons who have helped me with information which is incorporated into the history, the list is likewise long. As is natural, the first person turned to was the Rev. Kenneth W. Cameron,
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Archivist and Historiographer of the Diocese, who furnished a long file of early diocesan journals and pointed the way to other sources to be consulted. The State Library in Hartford, in the persons especially of the librarian, my brother James Brewster, and Miss Marjorie E. Case, who is in charge of local history and genealogy, has given enormous and generous assistance. Of other librarians who have helped me, I should mention first Mrs. Stanley L. Coe of the Wolcott and Litchfield Circulating Library of this village, who found many out-of-the-way books and pamphlets which helped me, and who borrowed extensively from other libraries for my use. Similar invaluable aid came from Miss Char- lotte Wiggin, curator and librarian of the Museum of the Litch- field Historical Society, who shared her wide knowledge of Litchfield and its institutions, and produced an extraordinary number of interesting and unexpected books, newspapers, pe- riodicals, and pamphlets and other kinds of printed and manu- script material. Miss Theresa Dempsey, Litchfield Town Clerk, made the valuable files of town records available, and generously helped me in my use of them.
Going farther afield, some of the resources of the Silas Bron- son Library in Waterbury and of the Torrington Library As- sociation have been tapped. A visit to the Trinity College Library was interesting and worthwhile, thanks to assistance from Mr. George W. Adams, Reference Librarian. My former colleagues at the New York State Library furnished many facts and cleared up some doubtful points. I am especially grateful to Mr. Mason Tolman, Reference Librarian, Mrs. Gertrude H. Kleinhans of the reference staff, Miss Marian Wiltse of the genealogy alcove, and Miss Laura A. Greene of the education alcove. Appeals to Miss Alice C. Dodge of the Utica (New York) Public Library brought prompt and extensive help. The Portland (Maine) Pub- lic Library, the Rochester (New York) Public Library, the Enoch Pratt Free Library of Baltimore, Maryland, and the Montclair (New Jersey) Free Public Library, all responded helpfully to calls for assistance.
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ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Those in Litchfield who helped with first-hand knowledge of events which are recorded include Miss Margaret S. Sanford, Mrs. Charles N. Warner, Mrs. Antoinette Cahill, the Misses Ade- laide and Charlotte Deming, Mrs. Martin G. Wright, Mrs. A. B. Webster and Mrs. A. A. MacDonald, nieces of Mr. Karl who was for thirty years organist of St. Michael's, and Mr. S. R. Fuller, Jr., grandson of a rector of that name. Mr. William L. Warren, a fellow historian, made helpful suggestions. Miss Ruth H. Deacon and Mr. William C. Edwards gave numerous kinds of assistance, always cordially and often repeatedly. Mrs. William Weik of Morris guided me to a spot from which I looked on the land which Mr. John Davies leased to the S.P.G. for the support of ministers of St. Michael's.
For help given in actual writing of the history I should first mention the members of the parish committee who were given charge of arrangements for a history, the Rev. Mr. Dunn, Mr. F. Kingsbury Bull, senior warden, and Mr. Ludlow Bull, all of whom read the manuscript, corrected inaccuracies, made help- ful suggestions, and helped make necessary decisions. Miss Ruth F. Eliot, formerly of the English faculty of Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, read the manuscript and gave generously of her scholarship and experience to its vast improvement. Miss Eugenia Porter and Miss Helen E. Stroop of Columbia University Press helped greatly with their skill and interest. Miss Hilda M. Deacon's generously donated aid in the final typing of the manu- script was a splendid contribution. To my sister, Josephine Brewster, I am especially grateful for many things-her memory of recent events, for patient reading and rereading of the manu- script, and for the actual compilation of the lists in the Appendix.
To all these who have helped so generously and unfailingly, and to others who have helped with their interest, I hereby make grateful acknowledgment and register my deep appreciation.
M. B. B.
Litchfield, Connecticut
August, 1954
CONTENTS
MISSIONARIES IN CHARGE AND RECTORS OF ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH XV
I THE BEGINNINGS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CON- NECTICUT 3
II THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN LITCHFIELD; THE FIRST CHURCH IS BUILT; SOLOMON PALMER, FIRST MIS- SIONARY 9
III LITCHFIELD 16
IV 1763-1771: THOMAS DAVIES, SECOND MISSIONARY; SOL- OMON PALMER'S SECOND RECTORATE 24
V THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION 3I
VI 1784-1799: ASHBEL BALDWIN; DAVID BUTLER 38
VII 1799-1830: TRUMAN MARSH; THE SECOND CHURCH; ISAAC JONES; JOHN S. STONE 49
VIII 1830-1849: WILLIAM LUCAS; SAMUEL FULLER, JR .; WILLIAM PAYNE; SAMUEL FULLER'S SECOND RECTORATE 66
IX 1849-1863: THE THIRD CHURCH; BENJAMIN W. STONE; JOHN J. BRANDEGEE; JUNIUS M. WILLEY; HENRY N. HUDSON; WILLIAM S. SOUTHGATE 76
xii
CONTENTS
x 1864-1893: WILLIAM S. PERRY; CALEB S. HENRY; GOU- VERNEUR M. WILKINS; STORRS O. SEYMOUR; L. PARSONS BISSELL 88
XI 1893-1916: THE SECOND RECTORATE OF STORRS O. SEY- MOUR IOI
XII 1916-1935: THE FOURTH CHURCH; WILLIAM J. BREW- STER III
XIII 1935-1954: HENRY E. KELLY; HOWARD F. DUNN 130
XIV EDUCATION 145
XV THE MINISTRY OF MUSIC 152
XVI THE FOUR ST. MICHAEL'S 159
APPENDIX I: OFFICERS OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH, 1784-1954 167
APPENDIX II: RECTORS OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, BANTAM, AND TRINITY CHURCH, MILTON I72
APPENDIX III: AN ACT FOR SECURING THE RIGHTS OF CON- SCIENCE IN MATTERS OF RELIGION TO CHRISTIANS OF EVERY DENOMINATION IN THIS STATE 174
APPENDIX IV: EXCERPT FROM PUBLIC ACTS PASSED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT, MAY SESSION, 1842 176
BIBLIOGRAPHY
177
INDEX OF NAMES 18I
ILLUSTRATIONS
INTERIOR OF ST. MICHAEL'S, THE EAST END, SHOWING THE EAST WINDOW AND REREDOS Frontispiece
THE FIRST ST. MICHAEL'S, 1749-1814 48
THE SECOND ST. MICHAEL'S, 1812-1851 48
THE DAVIES TABLET 49
THOMAS DAVIES, ASHBEL BALDWIN, DAVID BUTLER, TRUMAN MARSH, ISAAC JONES, JOHN S. STONE 64
WILLIAM LUCAS, SAMUEL FULLER, WILLIAM PAYNE, BEN- JAMIN W. STONE, JOHN J. BRANDEGEE, JUNIUS M. WIL- LEY 65
HENRY N. HUDSON, WILLIAM S. SOUTHGATE, WILLIAM S. PERRY, CALEB S. HENRY, GOUVERNEUR M. WILKINS, L. PARSONS BISSELL 144
STORRS O. SEYMOUR, WILLIAM J. BREWSTER, HENRY E. KELLY 145
THE THIRD ST. MICHAEL'S, 1851-1920 160
THE PRESENT ST. MICHAEL'S, CONSECRATED JULY 13, 192 I 160
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, BANTAM, 1843 161
TRINITY CHURCH, MILTON, RAISED IN 1802, COMPLETED IN 1826, CONSECRATED IN 1837 161
MISSIONARIES IN CHARGE AND RECTORS OF ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH
THE REV. SOLOMON PALMER
1754-1762
THE REV. THOMAS DAVIES
1763-1766
THE REV. SOLOMON PALMER
1766-1771
THE REV. RICHARD MOSELY 1772-1773
THE REV. JAMES NICHOLS 1775-1784
THE REV. ASHBEL BALDWIN
1785-1793
THE REV. DAVID BUTLER
1794-1799
THE REV. TRUMAN MARSH
1799-1830
THE REV. ISAAC JONES, Assistant Minister
1811-1826
THE REV. JOHN SEELY STONE, Assistant Minister
1826-1829
THE REV. WILLIAM LUCAS
1829-1832
THE REV. SAMUEL FULLER, JR.
1832-1837
THE REV. WILLIAM PAYNE
1838-1845
THE REV. SAMUEL FULLER, D.D.
1845-1849
THE REV. BENJAMIN WASHINGTON STONE, D.D.
1849-1851
THE REV. JOHN JACOB BRANDEGEE
1851-1854
THE REV. JUNIUS MARSHALL WILLEY
1855-1858
THE REV. HENRY NORMAN HUDSON
1858-1860
THE REV. WILLIAM SCOTT SOUTHGATE
1860-1864
THE REV. WILLIAM STEVENS PERRY
1864-1869
THE REV. CALEB SPRAGUE HENRY, D.D., LL.D. 1870-1873
THE REV. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS WILKINS 1874-1879
THE REV. STORRS OZIAS SEYMOUR 1879-1883
THE REV. LINUS PARSONS BISSELL 1884-1893
THE REV. STORRS OZIAS SEYMOUR, D.D.
1893-1916
THE REV. WILLIAM JOSEPH BREWSTER
1916-1935
THE REV. HENRY ERSKINE KELLY
1935-1942
THE REV. HOWARD FREDERIC DUNN
1943-
ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH
I
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
ST. MICHAEL'S PARISH in Litchfield, one of the many parishes which make up the Diocese of Connecticut, is less a separate entity than a single unit of a larger whole, which is the Diocese. So it will be necessary, in tracing the history of our parish, to look first at the story of the Church, later to become the Diocese. It is a dramatic history.
It is well known that the colony of Connecticut was a theo- cratic government. Founded by Puritans when the Puritan move- ment was at its height in England, this colony manifested the harshest features of Puritanism. The established church was the Congregational Church, but the Presbyterian type of government was also allowed. At the outset only members of the church could vote, and everyone was taxed for its support. When the two orig- inal colonies-one in Wethersfield, Hartford, and Windsor, settled in 1634 and 1635 by Thomas Hooker and about one hundred colonists from Massachusetts, and the other, the New Haven Colony, founded by John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton in 1638-were combined under a royal charter granted by Charles II, this charter was so much more liberal than its original constitution that the New Haven colony was violently opposed to it. But the liberality was not apparent in practice. The tax for the support of the established order and the denial of liberty to wor-
4
THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
ship publicly in any other way remained. In 1708 the General Assembly passed what was called the "Act of Toleration"; under this act persons who soberly dissented from the worship and min- istry by law established were permitted to enjoy liberty of conscience, without punishment, but still without exemption from taxation for the support of the Congregational churches. Even with this law on the books there continued to be hostility to any deviation from the established order.
In spite of this fact there were opposing impulses, as evidenced by a petition in 1690 of "a considerable number of freeholders, in- habitants of the town of Stratford, professors of the faith of the Church of England" who desired to worship God in the way of their forefathers. The liberty was not granted, but from what we shall see later these people must have kept their faith alive by pri- vate reading and a personal use of the liturgy. They were allowed no minister to serve them.
Help in this situation came, as might be expected, from the Church in England. It had for some time been conscious of the need of assistance to the colonies in America in establishing reli- gious worship. Several attempts to meet the need had been made, but the first practical step was taken in 1701 when there was chartered a Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.1 This society sent missionaries to the colonies as a first step to make observations and report on the situation and needs to the Society. Thus its existence and purpose became known, and im- mediately application was made to it for ministers of the Church. The funds of the Society were by no means adequate to the de- mand, but in 1705 the Rev. George Muirson was sent as a mission- ary to the Church in Rye in the province of New York but close to the border of the Colony of Connecticut in which, indeed, it had once been included. Connecticut people therefore attended the services of Mr. Muirson, who thus became acquainted with,
1 This will hereafter be referred to as the Society, or the Venerable Society, to simplify the cumbersome name, which is frequently also shortened to S.P.G.
5
THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
and interested in, their desire for their own services. In 1706 he, accompanied by a prominent New York layman who sincerely wished to bring the services of the Church which he loved to those who so urgently desired them, set out to explore the shore towns from Greenwich to Stratford. Colonel Heathcote thus describes their reception in Connecticut:
We found the Colony much as we expected, very ignorant of the Constitution of our Church and therefore enemys to it. All their Townes are furnished with Ministers ... chiefly Independents, . denying Baptisme to the Children of all who are not in full Com- munion; there are many thousands in that Govmt. unbaptised, the Ministers were very uneasy at our coming among them, and abun- dance of pains was taken to terrify the People from hearing Mr. Muirson. But it availed nothing, for notwithstanding all their endeav- ors, he had a very great Congregation and indeed infinitely beyond my expectation. The people were wonderfully surprised at the Order of our Church, expecting to have heard and seen some wonderful strange things, by the account and representation of it that their Teachers had given them . . . Mr. Muirson baptized about 24-most grown people.2
Subsequent visits were made, always in the face of opposition from the ministers and magistrates, but with increasing interest on the part of the people. The Congregational Society in Stratford was rocked to its foundations when its minister, a Mr. Reed, not only was not horrified by Episcopacy, but early manifested a friendship for her doctrines and worship and expressed a willing- ness to receive holy orders if provision in the meantime could be made for himself and his family. For some reason he never went to England for holy orders, but he lost his living among the Congre- gationalists at Stratford and was obliged to leave. In an attempt to weaken and destroy the increasing interest in the hated movement, the Congregational Society called the Rev. Timothy Cutler, who was known as one of the best preachers in the colonies of Massa- chusetts and Connecticut. He stayed in Stratford for ten years;
2 Pascoe, Two Hundred Years of the S.P.G.
6
THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
then his learning and popularity gained for him the appointment as rector of Yale College.
Meanwhile, as a result of Mr. Muirson's visits, a parish was or- ganized in Stratford with wardens and vestrymen; it was attended when possible by Mr. Muirson and by other clergymen from as far afield as New Jersey. The parish begged the Society to appoint Mr. Muirson as missionary at Stratford, and would possibly have been successful in their plea but that he died in 1708. In him was lost a man who was most valuable to the movement because of his "gentleness and sweetness of temper ... and charity to those who differed from him in opinion." And it was not until 1722 that this parish did receive the missionary for whom they had prayed so long. On Trinity Sunday of that year the Rev. George Pigot arrived. The parish began to prosper and started to build a church for which it had had timber laid aside for years.
Now other astounding and miraculous events occurred in the colony, and the scene shifts from Western Connecticut to New Haven and its vicinity. Samuel Johnson, who was born in Guil- ford, and was later a tutor at Yale College, had been ordained to the Congregational ministry in 1720, and was living in West Haven, then a part of New Haven. Before he left his native town a man by name of Samuel Smithson had put into his hands a Prayer Book, which Johnson had read and re-read until he knew it thor- oughly. Many of the prayers he committed to memory and used in public worship. They were so generally admired, we are told, that persons from neighboring parishes came to West Haven on pur- pose to hear them. As a result of this practice and of his reading, Johnson gradually found reverence and admiration for the Church's ritual taking possession of his mind. He had several warm friends among his fellow ministers in the vicinity, chief among whom were Timothy Cutler and Daniel Brown, the latter a tutor at Yale. To these friends Mr. Johnson communicated his thoughts and consulted them about his doubts and uncertainties. They met and conversed, first at each other's houses and later in the library
7
THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
at Yale College, which was well furnished with books on both sides of their questions. As they studied and argued, all, like John- son, were beset by thoughts constantly "hung in mingled fear and hesitation." They would have liked to be confirmed in their first beliefs and able to settle back in the established religion of the so- ciety in which they lived, but they were too honest to turn from the path along which their investigations took them. They could not have been influenced by any thought of improving their for- tunes or their position, small, despised and abused as the Church of England then was in the colonies. A journal kept by Johnson reveals how he wrestled with his dilemma and prayed God to guide him and his friends.
The outcome of the matter was that on the day following the College's commencement in 1722 the friends declared their belief that the Church of England was a true branch of the Church of Christ, and that it became their duty to enter and serve her com- munion. That this was a shattering blow to those who heard it can be imagined. Efforts were made to have them reconsider their opinions, and three of the young men did, indeed, decide to re- main in their respective parishes. But after a period during which vain efforts were made to change the minds of the other four, the Trustees of the College voted to "excuse the Rev. Mr. Cutler from all further services as rector of Yale College, and to accept the resignation which Mr. Brown had made as tutor." A week after the Trustees' action three of the young men, Mr. Cutler, Mr. Brown and Mr. Johnson, were on their way to Boston, where they embarked on November 5 for England, to be followed in a few months by James Wetmore.
Although the story of the voyage of the three from Boston, their arrival and reception in England and their subsequent ex- periences, is full of interest, it is unnecessary to recite it here. Suffice it to say that the three friends were ordained first deacon and afterwards priest, in March, 1723, by the Bishop of Norwich in St. Martin's Church. Then within a week of their ordination
8
THE CHURCH IN CONNECTICUT
one of their number, Daniel Brown, was struck with smallpox, a disease greatly dreaded then in both Europe and America, and died within a week, on Easter Eve. This was a grievous blow to his friends. But setting aside their personal sorrow they continued with the plan made before his death, and went to Oxford and Cambridge, where degrees were conferred on them. There and in London they used every opportunity to speak of the state of the Church in the colonies and of its urgent need of a resident bishop. They returned home in November, 1723. Doctor Cutler hastened to his church in Boston, and Mr. Johnson to his mission at Strat- ford. There followed for the latter a long and prosperous period of service not only at Stratford, but throughout the colony and, later, the state. As we shall see, he became identified for a brief time with St. Michael's. In 1754 he was called away from Stratford to become the first President of King's College in New York, later Columbia University. It is an interesting coincidence that in this year of the 200th anniversary of the settlement of a rector at St. Michael's, Columbia University is celebrating the 200th anniver- sary of its founding, and its noble first president is receiving mer- ited recognition. This great Christian and pioneer of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut deserves also every honor that his Church can give him.
II
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN LITCHFIELD
THE FIRST CHURCH IS BUILT SOLOMON PALMER, FIRST MISSIONARY
JOHN DAVIES is the man to whom we owe the beginnings of the Episcopal Church in Litchfield. He had come to this country from the parish of Kington, in Herefordshire, England, in 1735, and had purchased a tract of land in the western part of the town, then known as Birch Plain, but later, owing to his and his family's con- nection with it, called Davies' Hollow. Although originally in the town of Litchfield, this part of the town has long since been set off to form a part of the town of Washington. Mr. Davies was for some years the only Episcopalian in Litchfield. There were a few families in Northbury, now Plymouth, who had declared con- formity to the Episcopal Church, among them that of Samuel Cole, a friend of Mr. Davies. The latter had advised Mr. Cole, a pious and zealous man, to go to England in order to take holy orders, and offered substantial help if he would do so. Mr. Cole, although not inclined to undertake the difficult trip, proved him- self helpful in other ways, as will appear later.
From a record on the blank leaf of a Bible belonging to Mrs. Deborah Plumb, who was daughter of Elijah Griswold and grand- daughter of Jacob Griswold, we have an
account of the beginning of the conformity to the Church of Eng- land in Litchfield, in the year 1745; which was called on the 5th day of November by Jacob Griswold, Joseph Kilborn, John Davies,
IO
THE FIRST CHURCH
James Kilborn, Thomas Lee, Samuel Kilborn, Abiel Smith, Joseph Smith, Abraham Kilborn, Elijah Griswold, Isaac Bissel, William Em- mons and Daniel Landon.
Of these, all except Mr. Davies appear to have been Congrega- tionalists, and whether as a result of the bitter controversy stirred up among the Congregationalists by the preaching of the Rev. George Whitefield in Connecticut, or for a reason closer to them -the unpopularity of the Rev. Timothy Collins, Congregational minister in Litchfield at that time-they became interested in the ancient Church of England and determined to secure church serv- ices for themselves and their families. On Mr. Davies' invitation the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson came "to preach a lecture here," which was the first Episcopal service in this town.
From that time we know that a company of people, all from the western part of the town, began to meet regularly at the house of Captain Jacob Griswold, about a mile west of the center of the village. The service, and also a sermon, were generally read by Mr. Cole, the friend of Mr. Davies, who he still hoped would even- tually be ordained. Daniel Landon, who was the clerk, also occa- sionally read prayers and a sermon. So it continued for about two years, and then Mr. Davies advised the little group to build a church, as large as possible. A meeting was held to consider this and subscriptions were contributed. But there was the question of its location. Some were in favor of having it in the village, some of having it farther west. Mr. Davies advised the Birch Plain,1 where there was a good place for a connecting churchyard. This plain was undivided land covered with birch staddles, and was called Birch Plain to distinguish it from the other side of the road, which was covered with pitch pine and was called Pine Plain. It was a little more than half a mile west from Captain Griswold's house, and was approximately in the middle of the township, about seven miles from each corner. Perhaps Mr. Davies' reason for wishing to build the church there was its central position, and its adjacent
1 This is not the Birch Plain mentioned earlier.
II
THE FIRST CHURCH
land on which to build a larger church when it became necessary. Timber had already been drawn as far as Captain Griswold's house and left there. When it was finally decided to place the church near by, Mr. Davies consented to the decision and assisted in the building, hiring a man to help cover the structure. But he still urged the purchase of the Birch Plain land. Captain Griswold had it laid out and suggested to Mr. Landon, the clerk, that the people pay for it, but though this was planned the matter was neglected and the land sold elsewhere.
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