USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > North Branford > The early history of the Congregational Church and Society, of North Branford : delivered in the Congregational Church, Jan. 6, 1850 > Part 1
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104 . N64 W6 1850
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THE EARLY HISTORY
104 .N64 W6 1850
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AND SOCIETY,
OF
NORTH BRANFORD.
DELIVERED IN THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, JAN. 6 1850.
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations .- DEUT. XXXII, 7.
BY GEORGE I. WOOD.
PUBLISHED BY REQUEST.
NEW HAVEN : PRINTED BY J. H. BENHAM, ORANGE STREET. 1850.
974.67 W85e
PREFACE.
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ct-1967
The following sketch was originally delivered in sermon form on the text which appears on the title page. Since its delivery it has been revised and rewritten. It was written and is now published, for the people of North Branford. The reference it contains to certain localities in the town, and the names of persons which appear on its pages, will of course be matters of interest chiefly among those for whose benefit it was written. Whatever interest may be felt in it by others who happen to read it, can arise only from the fact that it forms a constituent, though humble chapter in the his- tory of the early Puritans of New England.
NORTH BRANFORD, Feb. 1850.
EARLY HISTORY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
HISTORY.
IT is among the first duties of every religious community which is fortunate enough to have a Past, to know its own history. Some of God's richest mercies to a given generation will be found to have had their earthly germ in times long past; and the] generation consequently which is not familiar with the experience of its predecessors, can have at the best but a very limited and imperfect view of the extent of God's goodness to itself. Each generation as it appears on the earth in its turn, (and especially here in New England,) resem- bles in an important respect the trees which beautify its surface ; its roots-the source of its beauty and glory and life-lie buried in the soil. Whatever there may be in the character of this community which is. worthy to be perpetu- ated among the generations to come, came, under God, mainly, as I believe, from the fathers who lie buried in these adjacent grounds.
I propose then to trace the history of this church and society, so far as the materials for such a history are still accessible -- from its earliest days.
The religious history of the early inhabitants of North Branford, until the year 1701, is nearly identical with that of the Congregational church of Branford, with which they were originally connected. We claim, therefore, a common property, and feel a common interest in all that pertains to the early history of that church. The outlines of that his- tory, in a few words, may properly precede such matters as relate exclusively to ourselves.
The whole region included in the ancient limits of the Town of Branford, was granted by the New Haven Colony to Mr. Samuel Eaton, in the year 1640, under the Indian name of Totoket ; a name which is still retained as a designation of the mountain range in North Branford. Mr. Eaton having failed to fulfill the condition of the grant, -which was, that he should procure a number of his friends in England within a specified time, to settle within these limits,-the Colony afterward sold it to William Swain and
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others of the Town of Wethersfield; stipulating that they should unite themselves with the New Haven Colony in all the fundamental articles of government. They immediately removed to Totoket and commenced the settlement of Bran- ford in 1644. The reason of this exodus from Wethersfield was, the existence of an unhappy division among the early settlers of that town. By the advice of Rev. John Davenport and others of New Haven, the people separated, and a part of them removed and purchased a tract of land in Stamford, of which town they were the founders, and another part, as I have already noticed, removed to Branford. Just at this period, the Rev. Abraham Pierson, of South Hampton, Long Island, feeling aggrieved, with many of his people, because that town had put itself under the jurisdiction of the Con- necticut Colony instead of the Colony of New Haven, re- moved to Branford and united with Mr. Swain and his friends in the settlement of the town. Mr. Pierson was soon chosen to the pastorate of the church, being the first who held that office ; and was assisted for a time by a Mr. Brucy. He was installed in 1644. In 1665 he removed with most of his people in a body from Branford to Newark N. J., carrying with him the original records of the church and town. Not to leave this allusion to rather a singular event in our early history, unintelligible to those who are not familiar with its circumstances, I observe very briefly, that by the charter of Charles II. the New Haven Colony was incorporated with the Connecticut Colony. This union was much disrelished and resisted by the colony of New Haven, and especially by the towns New Haven and Branford, these towns holding out in their opposition for some time after Guilford, Milford and Stamford had assented to the union. Mr. Pierson and his church were so much opposed to this measure that they almost all removed to Newark in 1665. Branford was, in conse- quence, almost without inhabitants, and entirely without a church and minister for twenty years. After some of these years, a population gradually moved in from other parts, and in 1685, Branford was re-invested with town privileges. I will add but a single remark explanatory in some measure of the opposition of the New Haven Colony to a union with that of Connecticut. It was a fundamental and important point in the government of the New Haven Colony, that none but members of the church should be elected to civil office-a mistake in political matters certainly not more pernicious than that of more recent days, in which piety and a high regard for the welfare of the church seem often to amount to a virtual disqualification for civil office. For this reason and others, New Haven Colony objected to the union.
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Omitting to notice such other matters as pertain exclusively to the history of Branford and its church, I observe that with the means of information to which I have had access, the nearest approximation I can make to the exact date at which the inhabitants of Branford began to move into and settle this, then, northern part of the town, is the year 1680. As the population began to be numerous enough here in 1701* to have occasional worship among themselves, especially in the winter season, it is evident that some years must then have elapsed since the first settlers moved into this region. The year brought down to us by tradition as the year in which the settlement of this region began, is 1680, which probably is not far from the truth. The first house erected within the present limits of North Branford according to the tradition, was built by Capt. Jonathan Rose, t the ancestor of the Roses of North Branford, near the house now occupied by Widow Hannah Rose, on Hop-yard Plain.
From that period, then, or somewhere near it, down to the year 1701, and occasionally till 1724, the first settlers of this region, then called the North Farms, might have been seen on Sabbath morning making their way to church along the track of what is called the old road to Branford, to attend public worship in Town. It was a time somewhat like the days of Shamgar in Israel, when men travelled by " walking through crooked by-ways" and when, indeed, the very term employed to denote travellers was (in the original) " walk- ers of paths." At that early period the only way of commu- nication between the North Farms and the Town, was along a foot path through the forest, so narrow that none but walkers and riders on horses could make their way. With a slight assistance from the imagination, we may see our worthy sires and their wives on the morning of the Sabbath, moving onward toward the settlement with becoming gravity, on saddles and pillions, with the wallet slung between them, to carry provisions for the day-this being the mode, as I am
* For this date and the fact here asserted, I am indebted to the discourse preached by Rev. Timothy P. Gillett, of Branford, on the last occasion of their meeting for worship in the old church.
t The father of this Jonathan Rose, was Robert Rose, the first of the fam- ily who came to this country, from the North of England. He was one of the eight individuals who owned originally the township of Branford .- Tradition reports that he owned ten cows (besides sixty horses) at a time when there were not ten more in all Branford, and that the Sunday's milking was always given to the poor. The bible he brought with him from Eng- land, printed in 1599, is still extant, in the possession of Widow Hannah Rose, and has been in its time, the property of three or four deacons of the Rose family.
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informed, in which all riders made their way to church. At that time, the land now covered in part by this church and occupied as a place of burial, was thickly covered with trees, and what is now the main road that passes the church, was a simple foot-path of the kind described. It was a time, too, in which the wallet was not the only "life preserver" needed on the way to church. There were beasts of prey and Indians nearly as wild, 'to be guarded against, and the gun with its deadly contents was considered by some, a necessary accompaniment of the ride to church. Indeed, so serious an undertaking was it in the beginning for some of the earliest settlers in these North Farms who lived two miles above us to the North East, to reach the sanctuary in Town and return again without being lost, that they found it necessary on the first occasion of their going down to carry an axe, and blaze the trees that they might keep the path on their return. Whoever travels over the same two miles of road now and wonders at its serpentine and hilly course, may reflect, with some consolation and profit, that it was originally laid out as a road to the sanctuary, and that our church-going fathers wisely preferred crossing the hills to passing the swamp and the thicket.
These resolute men and women of that day, evidently prized the ministrations of the Rev. Samuel Russel, who was at that time Pastor of the flock.
Beginning at length to experience the inconvenience of so long and difficult a journey to the sanctuary, especially in the winter, they were permitted after they became suffi- ciently numerous, about the year 1701, to have occasional preaching among themselves ; which was probably held in the school house, (or perhaps in some private dwelling.)
In the year 1722 we find the first entry in the town records respecting what is called " the North Society." On the 27th. of Sept. in that year, a Parsonage lot is purchased by the Town for the use of this Society; whence we gather that the community here are now beginning to mature toward an ecclesiastical distinctness. A purchase of lands on Indian Neck had been made of the Indians as early as July 30, 1685, for the support of the ministry in said town forever. These Parsonage lands were equitably divided beween what was then called the South and the North societies, on the 8th of Oct., 1722.
On the 12th of May, 1724, the Town voted to build "a meeting house " (we use the term employed by our fathers, without holding ourselves responsible for the propriety and good taste of the same) in the North Farms. In the words of the record, it was " voted that the whole Town would as
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one, in respect that they are numerous, so that one meeting house is not sufficient to contain them, build another meeting house jointly and settle another minister, and maintain each of them by one rate ;" whence it appears that what are called the North and South societies were still blended in their in- terests, and that their affairs are managed by the Town .- Three distinct sites having been proposed for the new meet- ing house, it was decided by vote to locate it " on the knoll on the west side of the river, at the place near Samuel Harrison's." The spot designated by these words was that occupied accordingly, as you all know, by what we call the old meet- ing house, which stood within a few feet of this to the south, and stood till this was nearly completed. The town meeting at which this vote was passed, was warned by Lieut. Thos. Harrison and Joseph Morris, Nathaniel Harrison being Moderator. Isaac Foot, Lieut. Rose, John Harrison, Daniel Barker and Josiah Rogers,* were the committee appointed by the town to superintend the building of the house.
About six months after this, the Town revoked their agree- ment to support, both-ministers by one rate, and then, in 1724, this ecclesiastical society of North Branford was fully or- ganized, and assumed the entire support of its own minister. .
By an entry on the records of "the Branford Society," which likewise begins now its own proper existence as distinct from the Town, it appears that they had at this time " just begun to have a minister among themselves in the North Society." It is then 126 years since this people began to enjoy the labors of a minister of their own, and about 149 years, (nearly a century and a half,) since meetings for relig- ious worship were first held within the limits of North Branford. Who this first minister was, who supplied the pulpit in the outset before they had a settled Pastor, we have no means of knowing. The Rev. Jonathan Merick was the first pastor of the church ; but his ordination took place two years after this date. It is possible that he supplied the pul- pit during these two years, but more probable that one or more preceded him before the society was in a condition to call a minister for settlement. The old meeting house was framed, erected and covered the same year, and began to be used, but was not entirely finished for seven or eight years afterward-as I find on our society records, that in the year 1732, Capt. Jonathan Rose and Isaac Baldwin, were chosen a committee to finish the gallery of the house. The dimensions
* This Josiah Rogers, the ancestor of the Rogerses of North Branford, was a lineal descendant of the 5th generation from JOHN ROGERS, who was burnt by the Roman Catholics at Smithfield, in 1554.
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of the house were 45 by 35 feet. The Rev. Mr. Russell came up and offered prayer at the erection of the frame, and an accident occurred at the time, which, but for the marked favor of Providence, must have been fatal to several. One of the heavy upright beams, (and beams in those days were heavy,) fell from its position into the midst, as it seemed, of the people, but by a kind Providence, without hitting or injuring any.
As the records kept by the Rev. Mr. Merick are unfortu- nately lost, we have not the exact date of the distinct organ- ization of this church, though it is highly probable that this took place in the same year, 1724; about the time of the organization of the Society. Thus a formal separation has at length been effected from the church in Branford, in a spirit mutually amicable-a spirit which we have reason to believe has descended from generation to generation, and which still exists between the two churches.
Before entering upon the history of Mr. Merick's ministry, I would make a single remark in relation to the old burying place adjacent to this church. When the stones were taken up in 1848, to be placed in a safer position, the oldest stone was one that recorded the death of Isaac Bartholomew, in 1727. From a tradition that has come down very directly from Aaron Baldwin, (a son of Dea. Israel Baldwin,* one of the first settlers,) it is evident that this must have been one of the first graves, if not the first ; and consequently that this ground began to be appropriated as a place of burial about the year 1727.
Till the year 1726, this people seem not to have been in a condition to have a settled minister among them. In this year, the REV. JONATHAN MERICK, their first pastor, was ordained over them. He was born in Springfield, Mass., in the year 1700, and was consequently 26 years of age at the commencement of his ministry. His house was framed at the expense of the Town, at the time the frame was made for the old church, and was erected soon after. According to the tradition which has descended among us, Mr. Merick was a man of decision and energy, generally accomplishing what- ever he undertook. From his word there seemed to be but little disposition among his people to take any appeal. He was beloved and respected among them as is tolerably evident from the length of his ministry here, which was forty three years. He owned and cultivated an extensive farm in connection with the discharge of his ministry, as was not an
* The ancestor of the Baldwins of North Branford, was George Baldwin, who moved into Branford a few years after its desertion, from Milford.
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uncommon custom at that day-the same farm which is still in possession of the family which have inherited his name. His ministry ceased in 1769, in consequence of a paralysis, which incapacitated him for its duties. The last public act of his life was to preside as Moderator of a church meeting held Feb. 23, 1769, to appoint the day for the ordination of his successor, the Rev. Samuel Eells. His signature appears for the last and now the only time on our church records, as Moderator of that meeting. He lived till the 27th of June, 1772, when, at the age of 72, he died and was buried among his own people, a few feet east of this edifice. The inscription on his grave-stone is as worthy of the attention of the present generation as it was of that generation to whom it was par- ticularly addressed. "Remember them that have spoken unto you the word of God." There is one individual still living who attended upon Mr. Merick's ministry and remem- bers his personal appearance-Mr. Ebenezer Russell, 91 years of age. He informed me that Mr. M. was a man of large and commanding stature, and wore one of the large old fashioned wigs.
During the ministry of Merick, until the year 1745, the people residing in what is now the northern part of North Branford, and the society of Northford, attended public worship in this place, and constituted part of this church and society. Having become at this time sufficiently numerous and able, they were set off as a distinct society by the General Assembly in the session of that year. For a while after the old burial-place was appropiated, they likewise buried their dead in this place. In the days of Mr. Merick, and for some time after him, the settlement here was designa- ted by the name of "the village,"-a term worthy to be re- vived again for the fathers' sakes, as well as its own, and far preferable, as it seems to me, to the foreign name which has somehow usurped its place.
The first deacon of this church was Benjamin Barnes-a man distinguished alike for his piety and his poverty .* An-
* An incident which will serve to illustrate his reputation for poverty and the cheerful submission he felt under this allotment, is preserved in an anec- dote which has descended respecting him. Meeting on a certain occasion one of his wealthier neighbors, Mr. Timothy Harrison, Deac. Barnes was noticed to have his pocket knife in his hand. After a little pleasant conver- sation together, Deac. Barnes observed in a good humored tone, that he carried his knife about in his hand because he was too poor to have a pocket.
All else that is known respecting him is, that the cellar of his humble dwelling is still visible on " Bare Plain," near the spring which supplies the aqueduct of the main street of that district. I may add here, that I have spelled the name of this Plain, Bare instead of Bear, (which is sometimes
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other of the deacons who officiated during Mr. Merick's ministry was Israel Baldwin, who was one of the original inhab- itants of North Branford. He was found dead some time in the year 1765, on "the Great Hill," alone, with his horse tied to the tree under which he lay. His death was evidently a natural one, though he seems to have died very suddenly. An- other of Mr. Merick's early deacons was Daniel Page, one of the original settlers of this region, and the first of the name who came here, who resided near the summit of Sibbies' Hill .* He died in' 1766. Ithiel Russell and Barnabas Mul- ford were the deacons of the church in the last days of Mr. Merick, and the first days of Mr. Eells's ministry. Deacon Russell was the representative of the church in the council that ordained Mr. Eells. He retired to rest in good health in the evening of March 25, 1772, and was found dead in his bed on the next morning.t
During the ministry of Mr. Merick, the mode of conducting religious worship, especially in the department of praise, was quite different from the mode of the present day. We find that from 1732, and for several years thereafter, an individual was annually chosen by the society as "clerk," whose office was to " read and tune the Psalm." Jonathan Butler, Jun., was the first appointed to this office ; and by vote of the so- ciety he was " seated in the second seat"-which I judge to have been a seat of honor from the fact that it seems to have been assisgned to men of military rank in the congregation. Abiel Linsley and Abraham Whedon were his immediate successors in this office. There seems to have been some
adopted,) for the following reason. The Indians having been long accus- tomed to burn over this piece of ground annually to make it a good hunting ground for deer, when the first settlers began to build upon this Plain, it was found to be almost entirely bare of trees and of all vegetation. I am informed likewise, what would not now be easily credited, that when it was first surveyed, the whole tract was not considered of sufficient value to be worth recording. The most reasonable conjecture then is, that the name of the Plain was not derived originally, as some have supposed, from a beast of prey, but from the fact that the land was originally bare of vegetation. The venerable and majestic oak which stands in the street near the middle of the Plain, from the tradition which has descended respecting it, dates its origin much farther back in the past than the earliest settlements in this region, and probably often refreshed with its shade the wild hunters of this region.
* The name given to this hill was originally connected with a Spring, still called " Sibbie's Spring," on the homestead of Widow Augustus Russell. It was the name of a petty Indian Sachem, (under Kishonk, the Sachem on Indian Neck,) who was the chief over the Indians of this neighborhood .- The spot on which they had their wigwams is still to be seen a little south of "Goshen Pond."
+ See Appendix, B.
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difference of opinion in the congregation as to the proper mode of conducting this part of worship, as the society voted, in 1735, that " the clerk have liberty to tune the Psalm which way he pleaseth."
It would be a matter of some interest doubtless to you, had we a list of the names of those who were first organized into a church in this " village," and who constituted Mr. Merick's original flock, and were among the earliest inhabitants of this place. This list of names, with other things, doubtless, which it might interest us to know, being unfortunately lost with the records kept by Mr. Merick, I have appended, at the end of this historical sketch, a list recorded by Mr .Eells at the commencement of his ministry in 1769, of those who consti- tuted the church at that time .* As 45 years only had elapsed at that time since the organization of the church, it is highly probable, if not certain, that the oldest members were among the number of those first organized into a church.
Probably there are few, if any communities in the State, in which so large a portion of the present generation of residents are the direct descendants of the original settlers of the soil. If we have not more of the Puritan spirit and principles than any other community, it certainly is not because we have not been favored with peculiar advantages for their preservation.
It is one of the pleasant circumstances we have to contem- plate in the history of the first generation of men who settled New England, and one of no little importance to us, that they were generally a generation of godly men, who, in founding these towns and villages, made it their first care to provide for their religious and educational welfare, and that of their descendants. It is a peculiar and significant fact, that the early history of these towns is, to a great extent, an ecclesiastical history. The church was the nucleus around which the town formed itself, and the spirit of religion was the spirit which, to a great extent, animated and controlled the town in its first public acts, and gave complexion to its history. They brought the ministry and all the institutions of religion with them, and maintained them from the begining, (without aid from any Foreign or Home Missionary Society,) with a self- denial, and a firmness of principle truly admirable, and worthy of all imitation. They did not flock hither because lands were cheap or fertile, or because New England was a country of great water power, which could be turned to the advantage of their secular interests. They did not come to find money or to make it, (though their descendants certainly have not been unsuccessful in the latter particular.) They came to
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