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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01068 5227
Editte Holder
grace, 1945.
267
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/twohundredfiftyy00curt
Tu prorace way
1415186
Two Hundred Fifty Years
THE STORY OF THE UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BRIDGEPORT 1695-1945
LUCY S. CURTISS
BRIDGEPORT · CONNECTICUT 1945
COPYRIGHT 1945 BY THE UNITED CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BRIDGEPORT, INC. Printed in the United States of America
TO THE REVEREND WILLIAM HORACE DAY, D.D. Who loved the church and faithfully served it Who preached the gospel of the brotherhood of man Who lived the spirit of the Kingdom of God
LE69 up 19-01-8
CONTENTS
Foreword 7
I. The Gathering of the Church, 1695-1714 9
II. The Enlargement of the Church, 1715-1747 21
III. Revolutionary Days, 1747-1796 36
IV. The Church Expanding, 1797-1830 45
V. The Church Divided, 1830-1916 71
VI. The Church Reunited, 1916-1945 109
The Pastor's Message 143
Bibliography 147
Pastors of the Church
149
Assistant Pastors and Directors of Religious Educa- tion 150
The Church Staff, 1945 150
Church Missionaries 150
Office Bearers of the Church, 1945 151
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Reverend William Horace Day, D.D. Frontispiece
Communion Silver Title Page
Cup, presented by Matthew Sherwood, 1713 Tankard, presented by Lieutenant Hubbell, 1738 Cup, presented by Captain John Edwards, 1746
First Meeting House 13
Tombstone of the Reverend Charles Chauncey 19
Second Meeting House 25
Tombstone of the Reverend Samuel Cooke 34
The Churches on Broad Street 76
First Congregational Church 85
Second Congregational Church 92
The Reverend Herbert Draper Gallaudet 100
The Reverend Richard LaRue Swain, Ph.D. 106
United Congregational Church 112
The Chancel 118
The Baptismal Font
122
Entrance to the Parish House
126
The Founders Portico 128
Howland Memorial Chapel
132
Mrs. Elmer Beardsley
136
The Reverend Fred Hoskins, D.D.
144
Cross on the Communion Table
146
The steeple of the United Church is reproduced on the front cover
FOREWORD
T WO hundred fifty years ago the United Church had its beginning in a little log meeting house in the pioneer community of Stratfield, and it is the purpose of this book to recount, as well as we may, the his- tory of those years. The chronicle is incomplete, much that we should like to know is missing; but we are grateful for the facts that have been preserved-here an event, there a personality, which, even in their incompleteness, make the record of the early days live again. And as we read, we re- alize that the story of this church is more than the narrative of its ministers and laymen, of its edifices and services; it is the story of Bridgeport and its developing life; of the coun- try and its expanding history; of missions and their world- wide influence. We have tried to tell it, therefore, briefly but inclusively-the story of a church developing against the background of a city and a nation; a church with an honorable past and a challenging future; a church which has shown itself worthy of the loyalty and devotion of its every member.
The history has been prepared in true Congregational fashion, not by one person, but by a committee who have worked together to gather the material and shape it into its final form. Mr. William E. Hatheway, for many years clerk of the church, and Mr. William K. Skolfield, the present clerk, have painstakingly delved into the original records, so far as they have been preserved. The Reverend Charles J. Scudder has made a careful study of the beginnings of the home and foreign missionary boards and the mission work with which our church has been connected. Mrs. Frank D. Rice has gathered material upon various topics, especially the organized work of the women's societies. Miss Grace L. West has given us the use of her book, "A
8
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
Priceless Heritage," which contains the detailed record of the United Church during the many years of her associa- tion with it as pastor's secretary and member of the office staff. Mr. Mortimer S. Comstock and Miss J. Ethel Woos- ter have been faithful members of the committee. Dr. Fred Hoskins, pastor of the church, and Mr. W. Parker Seeley, chairman of the general anniversary committee, as mem- bers ex officio of the historical committee, have given gen- erously of their time and interest. The actual writing was done by Miss Curtiss, chairman of the committee, and the publication was arranged by Mr. Leslie R. Mathews, co- chairman.
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of a number of persons, long familiar with the church, who have carefully read the manuscript and helped us with their knowledge and suggestions: Mrs. James G. Ludlum, Mrs. Henry W. Hincks, Mrs. C. Nathaniel Worthen, Mr. Lucien T. War- ner, and Mr. Frederic B. Curtis. We are especially grateful to Dr. Luther A. Weigle, Dean of Yale Divinity School, who gave us valuable advice at the beginning of our work and who has read the manuscript with especial attention to the background of general church history. To Dr. Roland H. Bainton, Professor of Church History at Yale Divinity School, we are also indebted for his interest and helpful comments.
The cover picture of the church spire is from a photo- graph which was taken by Mr. Burr Mathews, and a num- ber of the other photographs of the United Church are from a collection belonging to Mr. Lucien T. Warner.
The preparation of this history has been a rare privi- lege; and it is the hope of the authors that those who read it will find, not only added knowledge of the past, but also increased understanding and appreciation of those build- ers who through the centuries have labored to make pos- sible the rich heritage which we today so freely enjoy.
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
I THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
1695-1714
T WO centuries and a half is a long period as America counts time, and we of the United Church of Bridgeport look back reverently to that June day in 1695 when a little band of men and women in the pioneer community of Stratfield gathered for their first service in the new log building on Meeting House Hill. This church has seen much history, and it has helped in no small degree to make that history. It is with both pride and humility that we, in our comfortable twentieth century life, read the story of those early days and travel in retrospect the road that has led us to the place we now occupy.
Thirty years before, in 1665, two log cabins were erected near the present junction of Park and Washington Ave- nues. They belonged to the brothers-in-law, Samuel Greg- ory and Henry Summers, who had moved six miles out from the little village of Cupheag (Stratford) to the rather indefinite western boundary of that settlement. Four miles farther west was another handful of people who, about twenty-five years before, under the leadership of Roger Ludlow, had come down from Hartford and established the settlement of Uncoway (Fairfield). Later Mr. Ludlow and Mr. Blakeman, the minister at Stratford, were ap- pointed by the General Court to run the boundary be- tween the two towns. That boundary line became the cen- ter of Division Street, now known as Park Avenue.
Soon two other families moved out from Cupheag, namely the families of Captain John Beardsley, who settled near Mr. Gregory, and his brother, Samuel Beards-
10
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
ley, who staked his claim farther to the north. Gradually other settlers arrived-the Wells, the Hawleys, the Booths, and the Shermans-and built their cabins to the north or to the south. Across the line, too, Fairfield settlers had been working toward the east, so that the two groups were now close neighbors. Notable among this group was Major John Burr, whose home was only half a mile west of Samuel Gregory's cabin.
Unlike many pioneers, these men did not have to clear the forest, for the land on which they settled was "Pequon- nock," the "Cleared Land," a name originally given, not to the river, but to the stretch of open fields that spread out toward the river on the east and the Sound on the south. Even so the new settlers found plenty of difficulties to be overcome.
For one thing they were far outnumbered by the In- dians, who were a constant source of annoyance and alarm. Originally there had been three villages of Pequonnock Indians: one near the Uncoway River (now known as Ash Creek); one at the head of Black Rock Harbor; and the third on Golden Hill. But white settlements had crowded close, and gradually one tract of land after another had been relinquished until all that remained was the reserva- tion on Golden Hill, where a hundred or more wigwams were pitched near abundant springs of fresh water. An In- dian path led from Samuel Gregory's farm diagonally across the reservation, along what is now Washington Ave- nue. Doubtless Mr. Gregory and the other settlers were present in 1681 at the council that met under the great oak on Major Burr's farm, a tree which, when it was blown down in 1884, measured six feet in diameter and was esti- mated to have been four hundred years old. There each warrior made his mark on the deed which disposed of the last of the Fairfield lands that had belonged to the Indians. The Indians did not willingly surrender their lands, nor
11
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
had they forgotten the terrible Pequot massacre of 1637, when large numbers of braves were slain as they fled along the shore, taking a last refuge in the swamp at Southport. Later some two hundred women and children, who had been seized as hostages, were sold by the government into slavery in the distant colony of Massachusetts or the still more distant Bermudas in order that the colony might be reimbursed for the cost of the wars. It is not strange that for generations the inhabitants of the coastal towns lived in constant fear of retaliation.
But the colony grew and prospered, and before long a school was established on each side of the division line. By 1678 the school on the Fairfield side enrolled forty-seven pupils, and the community petitioned the General Court for release from the payment of school "rates" to Fairfield Center. Preaching services, too, were held in the district, and in 1690 a petition was made for the establishment of a separate church. The Reverend Samuel Wakeman, pastor of the Fairfield Church, which had been established in 1644, supported the petition; but many of his parishion- ers, reluctant to forego the rates, objected, and the court at that time denied the request.
The person who appears to have been carrying on the duties of teacher and also, unofficially, of preacher to the community on both sides of the division line was the Rev- erend Charles Chauncey. This young man came of distin- guished ancestors. His grandfather, the Reverend Charles Chauncey of Boston, was one of the Puritan leaders who were driven from England during the reign of Charles I. He came to Massachusetts and became the second presi- dent of Harvard College. His father, the Reverend Israel Chauncey, graduated from Harvard in the class of 1661 and came to Stratford as pastor of the Congregational Church, which had been organized in 1639. The younger Charles was born in Stratford, graduated from Harvard in
12
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
the class of 1686, and, returning to his native region, was engaged as teacher and preacher for the community of Pe- quonnock.
Under his leadership the demand for a separate church grew. The town of Fairfield, relenting in its opposition, voted: "That Mr. Charles Chauncey for his encourage- ment in the ministry in this place shall have sixty pounds in good provisions for the year ensuing to be paid to him by way of rate, each man according to the list of his estate given in."
In 1864 the following petition was submitted to the General Assembly and granted:
But now since we are by the blessing and grace of Almighty God risen and advanced to somewhat more maturity and ripeness, and grown more populous than before, in capacity to stand within our- selves, without running for succor six or seven miles on the one hand, and at least four on the other; we doe make it our joynt ar- dent request and passionate petition to this honour'd esteem'd Court, that you would in the greatness of your goodness, and out of your sincere zeal to the comfort of this part every way, so order it in your new convention that wee every one of us, that are settled in- habitants of and steady dwellers in Pequonnock, may be exempted and relaxed from any minister's rate or rates and schooll mastours salerys, either in Fairfield or Stratford afores'd, purposing (God smiling on and favouring our enterprises) to suit ourselves in time convenient w'th such meet instrum'ts for ye pulpit and scholl, as may most and best serve the interest of our God, and do our souls and children most good; such as shall bee most painfull pious and profitable for these ends to w'ch they were ordain'd, and are im- prov'd. And your humb. petitioners shall ever continue to pray for your long life and prosperity, subsigning this our address, dated 2'd May, 1690.
This petition was signed by forty-six taxpayers, thirteen from Stratford and thirty-three from Fairfield, the signers representing, in all probability, the total number of prop- erty owners resident in the district. Only eight of the forty- six, however, actually became charter members of the new church.
13
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
The Ecclesiastical Society thus authorized by the Gen- eral Court was without precedent in Connecticut annals in that it overlapped town lines; it was, therefore, the pro- genitor of the town, the borough, and the city of Bridge- port. The settlement was called Fairfield Village; but six years later, in 1701, the combination name of Stratfield was officially adopted.
2
Probable appearance of First Meeting House, 1695
Stratford and Fairfield each granted a strip of land on Division Street, which had been gradually pushing its way north toward the King's Highway (North Avenue); and at last, on top of the little hill that was hereafter to be known as "Meeting House Hill" (Park Avenue and Worth Street) the new church stood complete, squarely on the boundary line between the two towns. What a day that must have been, that June 13, 1695, as the drums rolled in front of the little meeting house, calling the parishioners for the first time to their own service; as sentries, armed with muskets, paced back and forth, alert against a sudden attack by In- dians; as men, women, and children in their Sunday garb
14
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
arrived, afoot or on horseback; and as "Messengers" from churches previously organized rode up to bring the greet- ings of those churches and to wish the new church God- speed. Nine men besides the minister were "gathered" to the new church that day. "The names of those that at that time were embodied into Church estate were as followeth:
Charles Chauncey, Past'r
Richard Hubble, sen'r Mathew Sherman
Isaac Wheeler, sen'r
Rich'd Hubble, jun'r
James Bennit, sen'r
David Sherman
Samu'll Beardsley
Jn'o Odill, jun'r"
Samuel Gregory, sen'r
Women in the seventeenth century were not allowed to share officially in matters of such moment; but three weeks later, on July 15, fifteen women were added by letter from the Fairfield and Stratford churches. From Fairfield: Mary Sherwood, Anne Wheeler, Mary Odill, Rebecca Gregory, Ruth Tredwell, Mercy Wheeler, Abigaill Wells, Elizabeth Sherwood, Sarah Odill; from Stratford: Abigaill Hubble, Mary Bennit, Abigaill Beardsley, Abigaill Wakely, Tem- perance Hubble, Mercy Sherman.
Matthew Sherwood, who joined the church two years after its organization, presented to the church in 1713 a communion cup. This is the oldest piece of silver that the church possesses, and it is still used at the communion service.
Of the appearance of the building there is no record. Probably it was built of logs and was erected by the men of the parish. Very likely it had a thatched roof; shingled roofs were coming into use at this time, but whether shingles were available so far from the centers of popula- tion is doubtful. Nevertheless, it filled the need for com- munity and religious purposes. The term "church" was not applied in early days to the building. As Richard Mather said, "There is no just ground from scripture to
15
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
apply such a trope as church to a house for a public as- sembly." It was indeed a "Meeting House," a place for whatever religious or civic gatherings might assemble. Whatever of culture as well as of religion the community possessed centered about it. The minister was the scholar of the village; he taught the school; he encouraged promis- ing boys to go to college and become in their turn minis- ters; he was the leader in every forward movement. The church was the inspiration of the school, and the church and the school together have been the foundation of de- mocracy and free government throughout New England and wherever the influence of New England has pene- trated.
The early New Englander saw no impropriety in hold- ing the town meeting in the church. As a later writer has explained: "To him at first the church and the organized town consisted of the same persons. . . In the better days the town and other political meetings were opened with prayer, and not unfrequently the freemen of the town were treated to a sermon. . . . The meeting house, so far as we know, has never been the worse for the town meetings which have been held in it, and the town meetings have certainly been the better for the meeting house in which they have been held. The New England pulpit may have been at times mistaken in its utterances in respect to public duty, but never in respect to the truth that political actions and interests should be subject to the law and the kingdom of God."*
One is reminded of the fact that more than two centuries later, when many members of the United Church felt that the holding of a public forum for the discussion of secular topics in the beautiful new church was a desecration of the sacred edifice, Dr. William Horace Day, the Pastor, main-
* Dr. Noah Porter, President of Yale, "The New England Meeting House" (an address delivered in 1882).
16
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
tained with gentle understanding but with firm conviction that it was in the atmosphere of a Christian church, follow- ing a service of worship, that topics of vital concern to state or nation might best be discussed. Thus the wisdom of the Puritan church lives on in our modern age.
However occupied he might be by problems at home, or whatever the difficulties of travel in those days, Mr. Chaun- cey had interests that reached far beyond the bounds of his own parish. He was one of a small group of ministers who met at Saybrook, the home of Yale College, in 1708, to con- sider the dangers arising in the local churches from lack of supervision or regulation by a central authority. The re- sult of their deliberations was the Saybrook Platform, an agreement which advocated the organization of associa- tions of ministers and consociations of churches for pur- poses of consultation and guidance.
Back in his own church, Mr. Chauncey acted at once to put the recommendations into effect. Six churches re- sponded to his call, namely: Fairfield, Stratford, Danbury, Stamford, Norwalk, and Woodbury, each being repre- sented by minister or messengers. Woodbury, however, later withdrew because of geographical location. The Stratfield Church, youngest of the group, could not lay claim to the title of "Prime Ancient Church," as could Fairfield and Stratford, but it had the honor of being host to the conference. Entertaining visiting churches in 1708 involved no expense for fuel or light, even in March; per- haps theological discussion sufficed to keep the delegates warm. Mr. Chauncey was appointed scribe, an honor which probably entailed the responsibility of providing paper for the record-and paper was a scarce and expensive article. The Reverend James Davenport of Stamford was the moderator. They were strong and able men, keen- witted and earnest, leaders in their respective communi- ties, those eighteen ministers and laymen who gathered in
17
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
the little Stratfield Church and for two days listened to re- ports of the convention and deliberated over the applica- tion of the principles there set forth. The result was summed up in the decision: "That all the Chhs in ye County of Fairfield be one Consociation [with power] judi- cially and Decisively to determine Ecclesiastically affairs brot to their cognizance according to the Word of God."
Some forty years later it was voted by the ministers in their state organization to form a General Consociation of Ministers and Churches consisting of two ministers and two messengers from each local consociation. This body would hear appeals from the local groups and consider any problems that pertained to the entire state. The delegates met in the home of a minister, usually for a two-day session. On one occasion we find them meeting, twenty-five strong, at the home of the Reverend Achilles Mansfield in Killing- worth, a gathering that must have taxed the hospitality even of an early New England home. The first session usu- ally met "att 11 of ye clock, A.M." or "at Eleven a Clock Before Noon." In the minute for June 17, 1788, we read, "The Association adjourned till five o'clock tomorrow morning." The next entry is, "Met according to adjourn- ment." At this second session it was "Voted that the Slave Trade be unjust."
Unfortunately neither the local nor the general Conso- ciation could forestall or heal all of the dissension and bit- terness of later years; nevertheless, the organization was to be influential for generations to come in promoting the spirit of understanding and cooperation. A Congrega- tional pastor has said of it: "The name will soon disappear from our Year Book. The word consociation will become obsolete-a kind of historic landmark. But the spirit of wise, strong organization-closer fellowship in service- kindly concern and fraternal helpfulness among the churches-standing councils, general superintendency,
18
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY YEARS
united front and orderly advance, will prevail-the pre- cious inheritance and inspiration from the Saybrook Plat- form and Connecticut Consociationism."*
While Mr. Chauncey was thus exerting his leadership in the affairs of Congregationalism, his own church was grow- ing in numbers and in influence. During the nineteen years of his pastorate he added to the twenty-four original members ninety-seven, whom he received in "full cove- nant," and one hundred thirty-three under the "Half-Way Covenant." This latter was a curious compromise that was developed to meet a very practical situation. The Puritans in England had decreed that a child should not be baptised unless at least one parent was a church member, and in or- der to become a church member a person must testify to an experience of conversion. Apparently this requirement had not greatly troubled the early settlers; but as time went on, many people were unable either to establish proof of previous church membership or to give the necessary evi- dence of conversion, and they were, therefore, not allowed to present their children for baptism. This restriction was recognized as an obvious injustice to the children, and it was also resulting in an alarming decrease in church mem- bership. Accordingly, a compromise was worked out by which parents who had received baptism might, if they led upright lives, sign the covenant and present their children for baptism. Thus they and their children became half- members; they were considered within the covenant, but they could not partake of communion or vote. Unfortu- nately, many people were satisfied with this nominal mem- bership, and the Half-Way Covenant contributed largely to the decline of the religious spirit which became evident during the first part of the eighteenth century. It was not abandoned, however, until 1806.
* Rev. Frank S. Child, An Old New England Church, Fairfield His- torical Society, 1910.
THE GATHERING OF THE CHURCH
19
Noteworthy among the early members of the Stratfield Church was Captain David.Sherman, who became the first deacon and continued in that office for fifty-eight years un- til his death. He was a farmer, living at the top of Toilsome Hill, but he was fully competent to take the place of the minister if need should arise. He was especially noted for his gift of prayer. Thomas Hawley was the second deacon, elected in 1698.
Y. RÉVÉREND. MR CHARLES.CHAUNEÉ MINISER OFY.GOSPEL
AT. STRATFEILD
AGED 48.YEARS DIED. DECEMBER
7 3 47
Tombstone of Rev. Charles Chauncey now in the Chauncey Bay of The United Church
At the age of twenty-four Mr. Chauncey had married Sarah, daughter of Major John Burr, a girl not yet seven- teen. A house was built for them at the corner of the Burr farm, on Cook's Lane, later known as Grove Street. Sarah died in her twenty-second year, leaving two sons. He then married Sarah Wolcott, by whom he had three children; and after her death he married Elizabeth Sherwood, who survived him. Mr. Chauncey died in 1714, at the age of forty-eight. He left an estate of seven hundred forty-three
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