USA > Connecticut > Tolland County > Columbia > The 150th anniversary of the organization of the Congregational Church in Columbia, Conn., October 24th, 1866 : historical papers, addresses, with appendix > Part 1
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Gc 974.602 C72c 1851614
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01148 6724
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7416
THE
150TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
ORGANIZATION
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN
COLUMBIA, CONN.,
OCTOBER 24th, 1866.
HISTORICAL PAPERS, ADDRESSES, WITH APPENDIX.
HARTFORD: PRINTED BY CASE, LOCKWOOD & CO., 1867.
1851614
D
Columbia, Conn. Congregational church.
.1
284617 'The 150th anniversary of the organization of the CA, gregational church in Columbia, Conn., October 2; 1866. Historical papers, addresses, with appen Hartford, Printed by Case, Lockwood & co., 1867. iv, 151-96 p. illus. (facsiin. ) 22}'".
Appendix : Proceedings and order of exercises. Copy of original ;. tion of the people to be set off a society. Copy of a rate bill for ti - 1. parish of Lebanon (now Columbia) 1741. Members of the church., .... Members of the Ecclesiastical society, Columbia, 1867. Letters. "Historical discourse, by the ... Rov. Frederic : D. Avery" : p. [5]-27.
P 8847 Library of Congress
F101 06506 5-1313
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Historical Discourse, by Rev. F. D. Avery, 5 Tribute to the memory of Rev. Thomas Brockway, by Doct. O. B. Lyman, of Hartford, - 28 -
Historical Sketch, Meeting Houses, by John S. Yeomans, 30, 31
Ministers from the Parish, by Rev. F. D. Avery, - - 37
Historical Sketches,-Education, Music and Miscellaneous, by John S. Yeomans, 45, 49, 50
Address, by Rev. Charles Little of Woodbury, .
55
Moor's Indian Charity School, by Rev. F. D. Avery, 58
Tribute to the Memory of Doctor E. Wheelock, founder of Moor's Charity School and Dartmouth College, by Doct. O. B. Lyman, Hartford, 70
Statements and Statistics, by Rev. W. H. Moore, of Berlin, 72
Appendix, 75
Proceedings, Order of Exercises, Collation, &c., 76,81
Copy of Original Petition of the people to be set off a Society, 81
Copy of a Rate Bill for the North Parish of Lebanon, (now - Columbia,) for the year 1741, to pay the Salary of Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, 83
Catalogue of Present Members of the Church, . 86
Catalogue of the Present Members of the Society, 88
Table of Statistics, by Rev. W. H. Moore, of Berlin, 89
Letter from Rev. Asa D. Smith, D. D., President Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, 90
V
THE
150TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
ORGANIZATION
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN
COLUMBIA, CONN.,
OCTOBER 24th, 1866.
HISTORICAL PAPERS, ADDRESSES, WITH APPENDIX.
·HARTFORD: PRINTED BY CASE, LOCKWOOD & CO., 1867.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Letter from Ex-Governor Wm. A. Buckingham, Norwich, Ct., 90 Letter from Rev. Daniel Hunt, Pomfret, Conn., 91 Note A. Letter of the Parish to Rev. E. Wheelock, D. D., relating to the Location of the Charity School, - 92
Note B. Letter recommending Rev. Mr. Whitaker in his efforts soliciting subscriptions for Moor's Charity School, 95
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE,
BY THE PASTOR, REV. FREDERICK D. AVERY.
IT was just as the seventeenth century was flowing into the eighteenth that the inhabitants of Lebanon completed their town organization, gathered the first church and settled their first minister. Sixteen years after, in 1716, one hundred and fifty years ago, a second ecclesiastical society was constituted, which was known as Lebanon North Parish, or Lebanon Crank, until 1804, when Columbia became a town.
All efforts to ascertain the exact date of the organization of this church have been fruitless. The time would probably vary but little, if at all, from the formation of the ecclesiasti- cal society. Taking the year 1716 as our stand-point, what would we find to be the religious aspect of the State ? There were then but four counties in the State, Hartford, New Haven, New London and Fairfield. In all the State there were a few Episcopal societies, one Baptist, no Methodist. Of our own denomination, in what is now Hartford county, there were twelve churches, where there are now fifty-one; in what is now New Haven county, there were nine churches, where there are now forty-nine; in what is now New London county, there were eight churches, where there are now thirty- four; in what is now Fairfield county, there were eleven churches, where there are now thirty-six; in what is now Windham county, there were six churches, where there are now twenty-seven; in what is now Middlesex county, there were seven churches, where there are now twenty-six; in what is now Litchfield county, there were two churches, where
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there are now forty-one; in what is now Tolland county, there were two churches besides our own, South Mansfield and South Coventry, where there are now twenty-two; in all fifty- seven churches in the State 150 years ago, where there are now 286 of our own denomination, 160 Methodist, 115 Bap- tist, and 130 Episcopal.
The early history of most of our old churches is very imper- fectly known, for want of any thing that may properly be called Records; and in this misfortune this church shares largely. Of the first fifty years of the existence of this church, but a few meagre pages are to be found, as its own proper record at the time; and of the next seventy years we have scarcely more than the barest statistics of baptisms, admissions and deaths.
The first item that has been found indicating the actual existence of this church is the fact stated by Dr. Trumbull, that Mr. Samuel Smith was settled here in the year 1720. Mr. Smith was doubtless the first pastor. His ministry was of short duration, the parish granting his request to "lay down the pastoral office," December 24, 1724. He was a native of Glastenbury ; was graduated at Yale College, in 1713, in a class of three, and was a tutor in the College. He died in 1725, only five years from the time of his settlement here, and twelve years after his graduation.
But one month elapsed and a call was extended to Mr. William Gager, who was ordained May 27, 1725. This second pastor continued his labors here nearly ten years, when the termination of his pastorate is thus declared by himself, Sep- tember 4, 1735: "I, the subscriber, do by these presents desist the work of the ministry in the North Society in Leba- non, and release said people from all obligations they have made with me as to my support and maintenance for the future, and declare that I have no particular or special right to officiate as a minister among them." After leaving this people Mr. Gager preached one year in Eastbury. He was born in 1704, the son of Samuel and Rebecca Gager; was graduated at Yale College, in 1721, and died in May, 1739, aged thirty-three.
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The third pastor was Rev. Eleazar Wheelock. Mr. Wheel- ock was born in Windham, in May, 1711, the only son of Deacon Ralph Wheelock. He was graduated at Yale College, in 1733, having for a class-mate Benjamin Pomeroy, who soon became his much-esteemed fellow-laborer as the pastor of the church in Hebron. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the New Haven East Association, in 1734. He received a call to settle here in February, 1735, and was ordained the first Wednesday in June following. The terms of his settle- ment are as follows: "Voted to give Mr. Wheelock that part of the minister's farm which they reserved in their agreement with Mr. Gager, which they suppose is something more than twenty acres, and two hundred pounds in bills of public credit, for a settlement, in case lie settle in the work of the ministry among us. Also, voted to give Mr. Wheelock one hundred and forty pounds a year salary, to be paid in bills of public credit, or in provision at the following prices; viz. wheat at nine shillings per bushel, rye at seven, Indian corn at five, oats at two shillings and six pence, pork at six pence a pound, and beef at four ; which are to be the standard by which his salary is to rise or fall proportionally as they in the general rise or fall among us."
Mr. Wheelock began his ministry here just at the time when commenced that marvelous work of grace in New Eng- land which is termed the " Great Awakening." He entered into this work from the very first, and became an earnest and efficient fellow-laborer with the Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Not a year had passed after his settlement before this parish was beginning to receive the fruits of his faithful and well- directed labors. Under date of 1736, stated by Jonathan Edwards to be in the Spring and Summer of that year, the historian brings this testimony: "The work also was very great at Lebanon Crank, a parish under the ministry of Rev. Mr. Wheelock, a pious young gentleman who had been then very lately ordained in that place." Of the real extent and dura- tion of this revival here no certain statement can be made; nor do we know that there was any other period in his minis- try that was so distinctly marked by the special power of the Holy Spirit.
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Such success attended the preaching of Mr. Wheelock in that revival season, that he found himself, either by solicita- tion or from the impulse of his own carnest soul, drawn away from his own special field, to engage in like efforts with other churches and ministers, yet probably without neglecting his own flock. We find him in Enfield, July 8, 1741, listening to that memorable. sermon of Edwards, entitled "Sinners in the hands of an angry God," from the text, "Their foot shall slide in due time;" and his report of that meeting to Dr. Trumbull, gives that historian this passage: "While the pco- ple in the neighboring towns were in great distress for their souls, the inhabitants of that town were very secure, loose and vain. A lecture had been appointed at Enfield, and the neighboring people, the night before, were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the inhabitants, and in such fear that God would, in his righteous judgment, pass them by, while the divine showers were falling all around them, as to be prostrate before him a considerable part of it, supplicating mercy for their souls. When the time appointed for the lecture came, a number of the neighboring ministers attended, and some from a distance. When they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and vain. The people hardly conducted themselves with common decency. The Rev. Mr. Edwards, of Northampton, preached, and before the sermon was ended, the assembly appeared deeply impressed and bowed down, with an awful conviction of their sin and danger. There was such a breathing of distress, and weep- ing, that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he might be heard. This was the begin- ning of the same great and prevailing concern in that place, with which the colony in general was visited."
Three months later we find Mr. Wheelock journeying towards Boston, and he lets us trace his steps by his private journal, a few notes from which will serve to show us the spirit of the man, and the character of his labors.
"October 21, 1741. Rode to Voluntown. There is a great work in this town, but more of the footsteps of satan than in any place I have yet been in. At their conference in the eve-
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ning I mentioned some of the devices of satan, which I apprehend they are in danger of, and heard the accounts of a number of new converts.
October 22. Rose this morning refreshed; found my soul stretching after God. Preached twice, with enlargement, by Mr. Smith's barn, to great assemblies. Many cried out; many stood trembling; the whole assembly very solemn and much affection ; four or five converted.
24. About two miles from Providence, met Mr. Knight and another man, who came out to meet us. His first salutation was, 'God bless you, my dear brother.' Rev. Mr. Cotton came; invited me to preach.
25. Rode with Mr. Knight into town. Preached three sermons, 2 Cor. 13, 5 ; Mark 1, 2; Luke 10, ult.
30. Had a great sense of my own badness and unworthi- ness, of what a cursed heart I have. O Lord, let me see and know more of it. Rode to Norton. Preached to a full assembly ; much affection and sobbing through the whole assembly.
November 1. Went with brother Byram to Taunton; preached there. Appointed another meeting in the evening. A great work in the town. I was forced to break off my ser- mon before it was done, the outcry was so great.
November 2. Rode with a great number to Bridgewater. Preached to a full assembly, in Mr. Shaw's meeting-house.
3. Rode with a great number to Mr. Perkins' meeting- house. A very full assembly. So many wounded that I could not leave them. Therefore preached again to a full assembly.
6. Set out for Boston. Met by dear Mr. Prince and Mr. Bromfield, about eight miles from Boston. Came in to Mr. Bromfield's. Soon after my arrival, came the Hon. Josiah Willard, Secretary, Rev. Mr. Webb, and Mr. Cooper, and Major Sewal, to bid me welcome to Boston. At six o'clock preached for Mr. Webb, to a great assembly.
8. Went to Dr. Coleman's meeting; preached with con- siderable freedom. Dined with the Dr. Went with Mr. Rogers to Mr. Prince's. Preached to a full assembly. After
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meeting was followed by a great throng of children, who im- portunately desired me to give them a word of exhortation in a private house, which I consented to do, though I designed to go and hear Mr. Prince, who, being by, desired that I would have it publicly, which I consented to.
9. Visited this morning by a great number of persons under soul trouble. Refused to preach because I designed to go out of town. Just as I was going, came Mr. Webb and told me the people were meeting together to hear another sermon. I consented to preach again. A scholar from Cam- bridge being present, who came to get me to go to Cambridge, hastened to Cambridge, and by a little after six a great part of the scholars had got to Boston. Preached to a very thronged assembly, many more than could get into the house, with very great freedom and enlargement. I believe the children of God were very much refreshed."
We see from these extracts how heartily Mr. Wheelock entered into this new revival-work, becoming indeed one of the chief leaders in it, and witnessing the same wonderful results of his labors abroad in other towns, that he had just before seen here at home. So constant were his efforts to bring sinners to Christ, that in one year "he preached a hun- dred more sermons than there are days in the year."
It might seem at times that he laid himself liable to the charge of being an enthusiast, as indulging in extravagancies and unwarranted hopes in respect to the character of his work. Yet he was actually so far from countenancing the extreme fanatics of his day, that we find one of those who were termed Separatists, dealing with him thus thoroughly :- "Yet all this,"-afflictions and losses that he had spoken of,-" never went so near to my soul as it does to hear and see the blessed work and ways of the glorious God, called errors and delu- sions of the devil. Pray, sir, let me deal plainly now, and don't be angry. Do you think you are out of danger of com- mitting the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost? It would not surprise me much to hear that God had opened the flood-gates of his wrath, and let out the horrors of con- science on you, and many more of your party who deny the
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truth, so that you should die in as great despair as Judas or Spira did." So much for the attack on that side. But, on the other hand, many of the ministers of New England were very apprehensive of the result of this great movement, and some set themselves directly and strongly against it, caution- ing their churches not to come under its influences. Mem- bers were suspended from communion "for going to hear Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Wheelock, Mr. Pomeroy, and other zealous preachers." Dr. Chauncey, of Boston, in a published work, represented Mr. Pomeroy and Mr. Wheelock as the principal instruments of the disorders and confusions in Connecticut. Between these two. opposite pressures, it is quite likely that the pastor of Lebanon Crank pursued his even course, looking only to his Master for light and direction. There were men of rashness and of very folly in the methods which they adopted in that time of the Great Awakening, and with these Mr. Wheelock was sometimes indiscriminately classed. But one of the foremost of these men, Mr. James Davenport, came to see his sin and folly, and applied to Rev. Solomon Williams, of Lebanon, and Mr. Wheelock, to know what he should do; and, chiefly through the influence of these two ministers of Lebanon, he was led to a public confession and retraction.
Now would you know just what that preaching was which stirred the souls of your fathers and mothers of that olden time, and which wrought such commotion in many another parish, far and near ? Listen then to the report by the his- torian, Dr. Trumbull, a native of Hebron, and who "lived sometime in the family of Dr. Wheelock." "The doctrines preached by those famous men," Pomeroy and Wheelock, " who were owned as the principal instruments of this extra- ordinary revival of God's work, were the doctrines of the reformation ; the doctrine of original sin ; of regeneration by the supernatural influences of the divine Spirit, and of the absolute necessity of it, that any man might bear good fruit, or ever be admitted into the kingdom of God ; effectual call- ing ; justification by faith wholly on account of the imputed. righteousness of Jesus Christ; repentance toward God, and
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faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ; the perseverance of the saints; the indwelling influence of the Holy Spirit in them ; and its divine consolations and joys."
Two of his sermons are particularly spoken of in the narra- tive of those revivals, as having been attended with marked results; one from the text, "What is the hope of the hypo- crite though he hath gained, when God taketh away the soul ?" showing "how far a man inight go in religion, and after all be no more than a hypocrite," and then " the miser- able end of the hypocrite ;" the other from the text, " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned;" describing a " saving faith in Christ, giving many distinguishing marks of it, and finally insisting that all without exception, who would not believe, would most certainly be damned." Not many of his sermons were written in full; as his duties and cares became more pressing he em- ployed only brief notes.
Mr. Wheelock received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University at Edinburg, June 29, 1767.
His labors in connection with Moor's Indian Charity School will be noticed in another place. It was in the interests of this enterprise that he deemed it best to sever his relation from this people, and move, with his pupils, into the wild lands of New Hampshire, where, in connection with the school, Dartmouth College was founded, and Dr. Wheelock became its first President.
In April, 1770, the ecclesiastical society concurred with the vote of the church to submit the matter of Dr. Wheelock's dismission to the decision of the western committee of the association of Windham county, with which association, this church, through its pastor, was then connected, and he was accordingly dismissed that year, having held the pastoral office thirty-five years. In August, he left for his new home in Hanover, New Hampshire; cut away the pine trees; built a log hut eighteen feet square; in three months after had a one story house for himself and family, and a two story house for his College ; and in the next August a class of four young men was graduated. Ho presided over the College, preach-
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ing to the students and the people of the village, eight years. Having been seized with epilepsy he lingered three months, and, at the age of sixty-eight, died April 24, 1779, singing and longing, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." "I have a desire to depart and be with Christ."
Dr. Wheelock is described as "of middle stature and size, well proportioned, erect and dignified. His features were prominent, his eyes a light blue and animated. His com- plexion was fair, and the general expression of his counten- ance pleasing and handsome. His voice was remarkably full, harmonious and commanding. His movements while in the desk were natural and impressive, and his eloquence irresist- ible. ITis preaching and addresses were close and pungent, and yet winning beyond almost all comparison, so that his audience would be melted even into tears before they were aware of it."
He was first married in April, 1735, to Mrs. Sarah Maltby, widow of Capt. William Maltby, of New Haven, and daughter of Rev. John Davenport, of Stamford. She died in this place November 13, 1746, at the age of forty-three, and her grave is to be found near the center of the old cemetery. Her daughter Ruth was married to Rev. William Patten, of Hart- ford, and there are those still with us who remember Mrs. Patten in her old age, in Hartford, and who listened to her interested inquiries about Lebanon Crank. The second wife of Dr. Wheelock was Miss Mary Brinsmade, of Milford. They had five children; Mary, who married Bezaleel Woodward, first Professor of Mathematics in Dartmouth College; Abigail, who married Rev. Sylvanus Ripley, one of the first four grad- uates, and first Professor of Theology in the same institution ; John, also of the first class, and successor of his father in the Presidency, nearly forty years; Col. Eleazer Wheelock and James Wheelock. Two sons by his first wife, both bearing his name, died in infancy, and are buried by the side of the mother.
The publications of Dr. Wheelock are, " A Narrative of the Indian Charity School at Lebanon," 1762; a Sermon at the
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Ordination of Charles Jeffrey Smith, 1763; "Narratives" in several numbers from 1763 to 1771; "Continuation of the Narrative," 1773; A Sermon on "Liberty of Conscience, or no king but Christ in the church," 1775. His Memoirs, by Drs. McClure and Parish, were published in 1811.
In a scrap of Church Record which has been furnished from Dr. Wheelock's old papers by Rev. William Allen, D. D., of Northampton, who married his grand-daughter, we have the following item : " At a meeting of the brethren of the church of Christ in Lebanon North Parish, February 14, A. D. 1737-8, the church then voted that they would choose a com- petent number of the most judicious, prudent and skillful of the brethren of the church, and set them apart for, and com- mit to them, the management of all affairs in church govern- ment, in. all ordinary cases, and appoint them to examine, try and judge of the same in their name and behalf, under the conduct of their minister or pastor, and to advise, assist and help him in any matters wherein he shall desire or require their help and assistance; and pursuant to this vote this church made choice of these brethren, in the order following, to represent them: Deacon John Newcomb, Deacon Joseph Clark, Captain Ephraim Sprague, Mr. James Wright, Mr. Nehemiah Clossen, Mr. Josiah Lyman, Mr. Thomas Wood- ward, Lieutenant Henry Woodward, Ensign John Daggett." How long this Church Council, as it was called, was kept in existence can not be determined, but since it appears to have come into disfavor with some very soon, it is quite probable that it was discontinued before the close of Dr. Wheelock's pastorate.
A little more than two years passed and the fourth pastor was settled, Rev. Thomas Brockway. Mr. Brockway was born in Lyme, in the year 1744. He was graduated at Yale College, in 1768.
In January, 1772, he received a call to settle over this church and society. The terms of his settlement were as fol- lows: "Voted to give Mr. Thomas Brockway two hundred pounds settlement, one hundred to be paid at the end of the first year, and fifty pounds at the end of each of the two fol-
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lowing years. Also, to give him ninety pounds salary, and to get him as many cords of wood yearly, at six shillings a cord, as he desires, not exceeding thirty cords, to be reducted out of the above ninety pounds."
He was ordained the 24th of June, 1772. The Wednesday previous was observed as a day of fasting and prayer with reference to the occasion. A person was chosen " in behalf of the church and society to return thanks to the Reverend Council for their kind assistance in ordaining Mr. Brockway." The ministers invited on the Council were, Rev. Messrs. Sol- omon Williams, of Lebanon; Timothy Stone, of Goshen; Joseph Huntington, of South Coventry ; Benjamin Pomeroy, of Hebron; Samuel Lockwood, of Andover; George Beck- with and Stephen Jolinson. The sermon was preached by Rev. Samuel Clark, of Kensington, from 2 Cor. 4, 1, which, in accordance with a vote of the society, was published.
The earliest Church Records, of any extent, are in the hand-writing of Mr. Brockway, commencing with his settle- ment. When he began his ministry, the church consisted of sixty-nine members; thirty-two males, and thirty-seven females. He was with this people during the troublous times of war, when the life of some of our churches, as well as of many of our noble-hearted patriots, was put in jeopardy. He was ready to share with his people in their pecuniary strug- gles, proposing " to give in fifteen pounds a year till the enemy withdrew, and ten pounds a year till the Continental debt be paid." But this was not enough. As soon as the news of the burning of New London reached this place, "he started off with his long gun and deacons and parishioners to assist in doing battle with the enemy."
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