USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Bethany > Story of a rural church; [papers read at a parish dinner 1960, on the occasion of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Christ Church, Bethany, Connecticut.] > Part 1
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Gc 974.602 B46si 1937186
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01151 3618
PAPERS READ AT A PARISH DINNER HELD AT THE
BETHANY COMMUNITY SCHOOL ON SATURDAY EVENING, THE 17th OF SEPTEMBER 1960, ON THE OCCASION OF THE
150 th Celebration of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Consecration of Christ Church, Bethany, Connecticut.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/storyofruralchur00size
THE STORY
OF A
RURAL CHURCH
1937186
THEODORE SIZER
Read Feb 15 : 1977
7 30
Grace before the meal
The Rev. C. Lawson Willard, Rector
TRINITY CHURCH, NEW HAVEN
Almighty God, who hast always graciously dwelt with thy people, and who hast moved their hearts to build temples, symbols of thy presence, to thy honor, we thank thee for those thy faithful servants who 150 years ago erected this Parish Church to witness to thy redeeming love and for all those whose worship and service to thee in this temple down through the years have maintained this witness of thy presence.
Grant, we beseech thee, that we may follow their good examples and be worthy inheritors of their devotion to thee.
Bless us with thy presence here this evening, and this food to our use that it may strengthen us to serve thee more faithfully through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
IT has been a pleasure and privilege to have perused the records of this parish. Although, in times past, these have been treated with indifference, the most important ones, the minutes of the Vestry, have been preserved intact from the beginning, from 1799 to the present day. We have them all-seven precious and revealing volumes! These are sup- plemented by a haphazard assortment of parish registers and account books, letters, bills, receipts and pew plans.
Let us now, on this 150th anniversary, examine such documents as have survived. Let us harken to the voices of those who built this house of God. At times they speak clearly, but more often vaguely, disconnectedly and frag- mentarily. Let us see.
One does not have to read far to be conscious of the in- dependence, the fortitude, the self-reliance and self-sacri- fice of our founders and their successors. One cannot but admire the faith, and singleness of purpose of these devout, isolated farm folk-products of single roomed schools. One is immediately struck by their orderliness, the homey elegance of their penmanship, their lucid prose and their capacity for stating their thoughts simply, intelligently and concisely. All of this happened long before the typewriter, high school bands and basketball teams. These farmers had not only a sense of fitness in record keeping, but taste in architecture. When they built their church, they engaged the best ecclesiastical architect in the state, David Hoadley of Waterbury. They could not have done better.
From the minutes of the Vestry we gather that they kept a tight rein on the minister, hired by the year, and a firm hand on matters financial. There was never any nonsense about "having it now and paying for it later." They taxed themselves for what they did. When in trouble they moved swiftly. For instance, in 1847, they were alarmed to find themselves unexpectedly in debt for $300. A book was im- mediately passed, a levy laid, fifty members contributing
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$15. to 5og which, with $9.19 from the alms of a Sunday and one dollar turned in late by Mrs. Theophilus Smith, came to $309.19. In 1887 the Treasurer reported a credit balance, after all bills had been paid, of 34¢. They stayed in the black.
The most remarkable feature that the records reveal is that of the strength of family tradition, uninterrupted and unbroken. According to the Christian conception it is the family and not the individual which is the unit. A church is a collection of families. Of the twenty-two persons who established the "Bethany Episcopal Society" on the 29th of November 1799, four were Tuttles and three were Todds; they head the list. Among the others were Bishops, Downses, Hotchkisses, Johnsons, Judds, Perkinses and Sperrys. And as we read on, over the years, we encounter such family names as Allens, Allings, Balls, Beechers, Browns, Carring- tons, Davidsons, Doolittles, Mansfields, Pardees, Pecks, Russells, Wheelers and Woodings. This represents enviable continuity. After a century and a half some of the same families are still at the helm.
These, then, are impressions. Let us now look over the same records in the order of time and consider the cir- cumstances surrounding our birth, youth and manhood. (May it be said here, parenthetically, that a chronological table of events in the life of this church, a list of ministers, and a bibliography-tiresome and necessary data-are attached to this paper. To have included them would have kept us far into the night.)
Worship according to the ritual and discipline of the Church.of England came late to the inhospitable shores of New England. Connecticut was founded and populated by Dissenters-Congregationalists. It was not until 1707 that the Church of England was planted in the Colony, this through the efforts of the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" of London. We came under the direct jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. It was only
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following the Peace in 1783, which brought the Revolu- tionary War to a close, that the first American bishop was consecrated. Apostolic succession for the American Church was achieved in the person of Samuel Seabury of Connecti- cut at Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1784. During the next year, things began to happen in Bethany.
It was the Rev. Bela Hubbard, a graduate of Yale Col- lege in 1758, rector of Trinity Church, New Haven, who conducted the first divine service. This was held in a small, unfinished building, known as the "Church House" on the 22nd of August 1785. He also baptized seven infants. Samuel G. Davidson, Tyler Davidson's father, says Hub- bard began his missionary work here as early as 1770, when we were yet a Colony. But let us not forget that we are the child of Trinity.
On the 29th of November 1799, thanks to Todds, Tuttles, and their neighbors, we became a legal society. The follow- ing year, with funds on hand, the newly formed congrega- tion was ready to do business. It moved out of the uncom- fortable, incomplete "Church House" with its crude, back- less benches and held services where it could, meeting at school and private houses. A new building was voted in 1808, begun in 1809 and completed in 1810. It was conse- crated by Bishop Abraham Jarvis on the 19th of September 1810, which event we are now celebrating. It was voted at that time "that the church be named Christ Church."
No tale of our parish can be told without frequent glances across Amity Road. We have much for which to thank our Congregational neighbors, who will be celebrating their 200th anniversary in 1962. They have been ever help- ful and hospitable.
Long ago they had a young and popular minister, the Rev. Isaac Jones, a bachelor. He angered some of his flock by marrying one of their number, a girl of his own choice; the congregation split; he left. This independently minded clergyman was judged, however, by our parish members “as
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a person worthy and well qualified for a Gospel minister in the Episcopal Church." He was ordained deacon and priest in New York and became, in 1809, our first minister, serving us for three years. We are told that 106 persons were confirmed in 1810. Were they all Congregationalists? Probably most of them were.
But before we take too much satisfaction in this de- flection, which greatly strengthened our church in the year of its consecration, let us bear in mind that there were occasions when disgruntled and indignant members of this parish crossed the street in the opposite direction.
Our mother church, Trinity, which had moved from Chapel Street to the Green in 1816, gave us three wooden tablets, which had been originally sent out from England, with the handsomely lettered Creed, the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments. They were returned to Trinity in 1885 and may now be seen just inside the entrance of that church on the Green. Were the sportive cherubim at the top and bottom of the panels too much out of character with Bethany Puritanism? Possibly.
In 1828 the space filling square pews were replaced by narrow slips which were annually auctioned off to the highest bidders. It is fascinating to follow price fluctuations. For instance, in 1828, they varied from $13.50 for the best slips to $2.25 for those in the rear; the next year it was $13. to $2., then, in 1830, $10. to $2. In 1831 they fell to $9. to $2. and then rose to $11. to $3. the year following, $59.50 being received from 37 persons. It cost $5. for a front row in the Gallery. In 1837 the prices rose. It cost $20. for the privilege of sitting up front and $2.50 for less desirable locations. This came to $397.50. In 1839 $503.50 was realized. As late as 1901 slips were still auctioned. Free pews must have come in shortly thereafter.
Other prices are equally interesting. "Sweeping the church for a year" amounted to $3. in 1835. In 1842 Alonzo Sperry was paid $2. for "2 days Chopping and Splitting
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wood" and 42g for "Sawing wood 612 hours." The cost for the "Entertainment for Bishop and Clergy," in 1834, was but $4. In February 1837 Hezekiah Thomas was paid the following:
"To entertainment for Bishop and Clergy $1.93
20 Dinners at IOg 2.00
Sweeping for 1 year 3.00"
Those were the days!
During the mid-century the ministers were paid $400. by the Church, usually $175. by the Archdiocese, the free use of the Rectory and ten cords of wood. The salary was later raised to $500. and then to $550. It took two and a half cords, at $5. a cord, to heat the Church, as against $456.84 paid for fuel oil last year. In January 1919 it was voted that the organist receive one dollar per service and that little "Edward H. Hinman be the organ blower at the rate of 20g per Sunday."
In 1846 and again two years later "Tythingmen" were elected. "In the New England colonies," according to the dictionary, a tithingman was "an officer for the enforcing Sunday observances and order." Apparently, there was some necessity for this. As late as 1903 the Seymour Record stated that "neighbors in . .. Bethany .... were very much disturbed Sunday by the noise of hollering and hooting by Sabbath breakers."
. The changes which took place in the Church of England during the mid-nineteenth century, "Tractarianism," the "Oxford Movement"-it goes by different names-en- gendered by John Keble and his circle, had its effect on our church in Bethany, after a time lag of twenty or thirty years. Up to 1875 our little, oblong church was essentially a meeting house, differing but little from the typical Con- gregational church of the period. There was a high "three decker" pulpit, with a double stairway, at the east end of the church. Behind this was a long, narrow "pulpit window"
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to shed light upon the written word. The emphasis in those days was on preaching. Below the pulpit was a simple and unadorned table altar. Service was read from the lower story and the sermon from the top, the minister changing his surplice for a black silk gown for the latter. There were two side aisles and no central one. All of this was changed to conform with the new (actually the ancient) liturgical practises.
Things got under way rapidly. In March 1875 the Vestry voted to "raise $1500. within a week, Samuel R. Woodward and Jasper B. Todd, being a committee to solicit sub- scriptions." With funds in hand the high pulpit and stair- ways were torn down and the utilitarian "pulpit window" filled with "beautiful and costly stained glass." (The word "costly," in the mid-Victorian period, was synonymous with "good.") New floors were laid over the old, the narrow slips removed and comfortable, cushioned pews installed. A center aisle replaced the two smaller ones, the emphasis now being placed on the processional with cross and choir. The Trinity Church tablets were removed (and ultimately re- turned). The former, simple, freestanding communion table was now replaced by a fixed altar and communion rail, both in neo-Jacobean style. The altar was no longer sub- ordinated to the pulpit. A scriptural text, "Ye shall rever- ence my sanctuary, I am the Lord" (Leviticus 19:30 and 26:2), lettered in the Gothic manner, was placed above. Walls, ceilings and woodwork were "tastefully kalsomined and painted." The cost had been $2,000. It was a thorough and colorful job. When all was done a great gathering as- sembled on the 14th of September 1875. How proud they all must have been!
Being good Yankees the Vestry voted (9th of August 1875) to "dispose of material, now useless to the Parish, such as the old seats, Carpets, etc." (We have, in the closet under the stairs, one of the little slip doors.)
Had we been wealthier, who knows but what we might
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have torn down the church and built a sham mediaeval edifice in stone, or "carpenters' Gothic" in wood? When our church was built we were on a stage coach route. Had we, in later years, been on a railroad or even a trolley car line all might have been different. The place named Bethany probably means, in ancient Hebrew, the "house of poverty." Perhaps it was the lack of riches that saved our little architectural gem.
None the less, mid-Victorianism had a further effect, this time on the exterior of the building. A vote was taken by ballot on the 24th of March 1888, "to decide what color the church should be painted. Fifteen votes were cast of which eight (8) were for colored paint and seven (7) for white paint, it was therefore decided to paint the church in colors." This was good democracy but poor aesthetics. From old photographs it would appear that the trim only was painted a dark color (was it buff?). Happily, the clap- boards remained untouched. The oldest residents in town never recall the church being anything but white. There is an ever changing cycle of taste. We should remember that at that time brown and even pink were fashionable colors for houses. Today we prize neat, little, clapboarded, salt- box houses, which at least one Victorian critic termed "abominations in white."
Another great change occurred in 1885. A pipe organ was installed that year. No longer did the congregation have to rely on male choirsters or mixed choirs. In the early days the former were elected annually. In 1803, for instance, there were three, a Tuttle, a Downs and a Perkins. The records fail to show that they were re-elected. When the Church was opened in 1810 there were seven male choirsters. Ever since, however, we have been more indebted to women than to mere males.
Not only did the church change musically and in color, but so did the town in other respects. The population had been 1,170 in 1840 and 914 ten years later. Then it began
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to slip more rapidly, falling to a low of 41I persons in 1920. Naturally, there was a proportional decline in the faithful. Ministers came and went; the Vestry was constantly "ex- tending a call" to prospective clergy. We paid (in 1902) the organist fifty cents per service. Mercifully, there always were a few steadfast families! The flame of faith may have flickered but it kept burning.
In spite of this depletion of population, we celebrated our hundredth anniversary magnificently. This occurred on the 19th of September 1910. Our rector, the Rev. Dr. Archibald MacDougall, was elected master of ceremonies. Two bishops were present, Brewster of Connecticut and Lines of New Jersey. The Rev. Samuel Hart came from the Diocesan headquarters and the Rev. Charles Scoville from our mother church, Trinity. The Archdeacon, Rev. George H. Buck of Derby, fourteen ministers from nearby parishes and one from Baltimore and another from South Dakota attended. There were two services and two sermons. A member of our parish and graduate of the Berkeley Di- vinity School, Middletown, Leonard E. Todd was ordained that day to the priesthood. Mrs. J. B. Todd directed the choir. Two hundred and fifty people enjoyed "an abundant repast" inside and out of a large white canvas tent. The newspapers had it that "between five and six hundred were present." And, we should remember, that the multitude came by horse and buggy, as the photographs attest.
It was an all day affair with a speech filled afternoon. The Rev. Leonard Todd spoke and Samuel G. Davidson of the Vestry delivered the "Historical Address," from which the following is taken:
"The storm and winds of a hundred winters have beat against this church but have not prevailed against it, for its foundation stands on rock. We owe much to Trinity church of New Haven, Bela Hubbard, its Rector, did missionary work here for nearly four
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decades. We have received many kindnesses and as- sistance from her. She assisted in our effort to pur- chase a new pipe organ, and also on this occasion, and we are proud to stand here today and recognize her as our Foster Mother."
The years following this splendid celebration were lean. Without a rector, in 1915, we nearly lost the church by fire, but it was quickly extinguished after causing only $500. damage. The Rectory was empty, filled and again vacant. For some years it was rented to a parishioner. It was granted free, for a short time, to a family whose home had burned.
In 1935 the Rev. Dr. William A. Beardsley of New Haven preached an interesting historic sermon to mark our 125th anniversary. We relied on a succession of ministers, lay readers and students. The loyalty of a few kept the Church alive.
Among the five divinity students, it was John Hurd, as- sisted by the late, energetic Elizabeth Gordon Fox of the Vestry, who revivified the Church. A new breeze blew. The church records were put in order and finances tidied up. Ushers passed out leaflets at services, house calls were made and new members welcomed. We boldly engaged a profes- sional money raising organization to help us with the eternal problem. Our student leader never let us forget four immediate aims: (1) a full time rector, (2) the restora- tion of the Church, (3) more adequate Sunday School, and (4) the renovation of the hard used and antiquated Rectory. Three of these have since been achieved. Our beloved and loyal Senior Warden, Wallace S. Saxton, for twenty-five years Treasurer, was succeeded by the retired Dean of Yale College, Clarence W. Mendell in the latter capacity. Under his direction we established a much needed “Expansion Fund." The Elizabeth Gordon Fox bequest of $14,500. and that of the late Kate Woodward Brown of $36,200. have
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made our foundations firm. With the professional advice of the late Henry Schraub Kelly, a New Haven architect, the church was well and beautifully restored. The Victorian colored interior was repainted in accordance with the 1810 original. We made happy changes in the lighting and pro- cured a larger and better organ from Christ Church, Sandy Hook. This was painstakingly assembled by the men of the parish with the same spirit and good will characteristic of the early days. The Rectory, which served us well for a century and a quarter, was tastefully renovated. Our success was crowned when we elected, last year, as Rector, Rev. William Stanly Brison, an appointment which the bishop immediately confirmed. Thus we ceased to be a mission or an "assisted" parish becoming a full fledged parish. The hard fought battle was won. Although we had been aided for years by the Diocese, it was with some difficulty that we assumed our new and Diocesan obligations; we ever march with our heads high.
It is not for me to speak of the future; that is for our Senior Warden, Richard K. Miller. One cannot help ob- serving, however, the great change that has come over us. We were founded and sustained by a farm population. The horse and buggy, the team and wagon, the yoked oxen and their high, two wheeled carts have all been replaced by the motor car. The economy of Bethany is no longer agri- cultural. We have become a "bed room town." And we are. growing rapidly. Uncle Sam states, officially, that we are now 2,245. What of our church members? Among the 133 are accountants, bankers, biologists, office workers, con- struction workers, welders, mechanics, engineers, electri- cians, truck drivers, teachers, salesmen, linemen, drafts- men and retired persons and, but two farmers. "The old order changeth, yielding place to the new."
With God's help we have triumphantly survived for a century and a half. In Him do we trust. Let us praise the " Lord!
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Chronology
1534-1536 1701 1702
The ancient Church of England becomes independent of the Papacy.
Yale College (Congregational) founded.
First year of the reign of Queen Anne.
1702
First Church of England minister arrived in the Con- necticut Colony.
1707
Church of England planted in the Connecticut Colony by
1762
First church organized in Bethany, Congregational.
1768 First church building in Bethany, Congregational (the first of three).
1770 Missionary work of Rev. Bela Hubbard of Trinity Church, New Haven, said to have begun at Bethany.
1783
End of the Revolutionary War. America gains independ- ence.
1784
Samuel Seabury of Connecticut consecrated in Aberdeen, Scotland, first American bishop.
before
"Church House," built, but left unfinished (lathe and plaster never put up) on "Church Corner," the north east corner at the junction of Tuttle and Carrington Roads, on land later owned by Tyler Davidson and now by the Rev. and Mrs. Norvin J. Hein of the Yale Divinity School.
26 August 1785
Rev. Bela Hubbard, rector of Trinity, New Haven, con- ducted divine service and baptized seven infants.
1789 1789
George Washington inaugurated President.
"Book of Common Prayer for the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" adopted.
29 November 1799
Bethany Episcopal Society organized by 22 residents.
1800
Congregation moved from incompleted "Church House," meeting at school and private houses, laymen reading services.
1803
"Church House" sold and demolished, funds to apply to a "New Church house."
1808
Services held in Darius Beecher's hall or ball room (now known as the "Hoadley House"), on Amity Road, to the north of the present church.
1808
Voted to build a new church, "Forty-eight feet in length by thirty-six in breadth, with a cupola."
1809 A quarter of an acre purchased from Roger Peck for $50.
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1785 or
, the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts" and openly practiced.
1809 1809 1809 1809 January 1810 19 September 1810 1816
James Madison, President of the U.S. Rev. Isaac Jones, minister.
Frame work erected "after the proportion of the church in Waterbury."
David Hoadley, architect, of Waterbury, called in to finish building.
Church building completed.
Church consecrated by Bishop Abraham Jarvis, voted "that the church be named Christ Church."
Three painted tablets, made in England, containing the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, given by Trinity Church, New Haven. (Returned to Trinity in 1885.)
between
1825-1830
Rectory built.
1828
Square pews replaced by narrow slips. These rented an- nually to the highest bidders.
1830
126 families attending.
1830
Church repaired.
1832
The Town of Bethany incorporated (formerly a part of Woodbridge.)
1835
Bell, paid for by subscription, hung in the steeple.
1840
First census for Bethany (apart from Woodbridge), 1, 170 persons.
1846 and 1848
Tithingmen elected.
1849
Rectory repaired.
1850
Church repainted.
1858
New bell cast in New Haven, metal from old one said to have been used.
1858
Horse sheds, for the use of the congregation, built across Amity Road.
1859
Rectory repaired.
1860
Bethany census, 974 persons.
1870
Bethany census, 1,135 persons.
1875
Church thoroughly renovated in keeping with new litur- gical practices.
1879
Mrs. Leonard Todd gave baptisimal font in memory of Leonard Todd, who died in 1876.
1880
Bethany census, 637 persons.
1885
Pipe organ purchased from Hook and Hastings, Boston, for $1,200.
1885
1890
Three wooden tablets returned to Trinity Church, New Haven (where they now hang inside the entrance). Bethany census, 550 persons.
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Bethany census, 914 persons.
1851
1 890 1 892 1900 1901
Church served 91 families, having 190 individuals; 86 communicants.
Bronze missal stand given by the Young Ladies' League. Bethany census, 517 persons.
Church had 23 voting members.
1901
Slips still annually auctioned. Free pews probably there- after.
1903
Church repainted.
1904
Church had 40 families, 100 baptized persons and 56 communicants.
1904
Church extensively repaired.
1904
New carriage house for the Rectory.
1910
Bethany census, 495 persons.
19 September 1910 1913
100th Anniversary celebrated.
Church had 22 voting members.
1915
Serious fire threatened church.
1918
Church funds turned over to the Trustees of "Donations and Bequests for Church Purposes," Diocesan Head- quarters, Hartford.
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