USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Middletown > A brief history of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Middletown, Connecticut : with biographical sketches > Part 6
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RECTORY BUILDINGS
A S far as the records show, the first building owned by the parish and used as a rectory was the house formerly the home of Mrs. Martha Mortimer Starr, a liberal benefactor of the church. It was located originally on Main Street on the lot now occupied by the church buildings. This home lot extending west to Broad Street and the house in which she had lived were bequeathed to the parish with other property, by Mrs. Starr at her death in 1848. In her will was the proviso that the name of the church should be changed from Christ Church to the Church of the Holy Trinity. This change in time was legally accomplished. Mrs. Starr also stipulated in her will that her former residence was to be improved and used as a rectory. Later, the building was moved from Main Street to Broad Street to the site of the present rectory, and was long the home of Dr. Goodwin.
By 1881 it was evident that it was in a bad condition. It was over one hundred years old and had been badly strained at the time it was moved. It was decided to tear it down and this was done in April 1881. The new brick building erected on the same site was completed by October of that same year and its first occupants were Dr. McConnell and his family, who had hardly got settled in their new home when, in November 1881, he resigned his rectorship to accept a call to a Philadelphia church. The rectory was occupied in turn for the next nine years by the Rev. Mr. Miller and by Dr. Parks. The Acheson family moved in after Dr. Parks, and the two oldest of the Acheson children were born here.
By 1902 the condition of the rectory was such that unless ex- tensive repairs were made on it, a new one would have to be erected. A committee was appointed to estimate the cost of putting the old building in shape; or, if necessary, to plan for a new one. It was decided to build a new rectory, a larger one and this was also to be of brick. The building of the rectory, the third on this site, was financed by the sale of the Sebor House, on High Street,
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now the Wesleyan Infirmary, which property had been left to the church. The Acheson family, after vacating the old house, lived, during the interim of building, in the Benjamin Douglas house at Union Park; and, later, on Pearl Street. They moved into the new rectory and had their first meal there May 24, 1903 and continued to live there until after Mr. Acheson was elected bishop.
¡After the Achesons vacated the rectory, Dr. German's family occupied it until after his resignation when, December 1, 1937 it became the home of the Wilson family.
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RECTORS AND CLERGY IN CHARGE OF THE PARISH AND LAY READERS
As they appear in Mrs. Starr's History
Rev. James Wetmore
Occas'ly 1724
1743
Rev. Richard Mansfield
Occas'ly
1745
Apr. 8, 1750
Ichabod Camp
Before 1749
Lay reader
· Rev. Ebenezer Punderson
Occas'ly 1739
1750
Rev. Ichabod Camp
July 19, 1752
June,
1760
1st Rector
Caleb Wetmore
June,
1760
Lay reader
Abraham Jarvis
May,
1761
Sept., 1763
Lay reader
Rev. Abraham Jarvis
Aug.
1, 1764
Apr. 10, 1799
2nd Rector
Rev. Calvin White
Aug.,
1799
July 29, 1800
3rd Rector
Rev. Joseph Warren
Oct.
5, 1800
June 10, 1803
4th Rector
Rev. Clement Merriam
Sept. 10, 1803
Oct.
1, 1806
5th Rector
Lemuel Burge
Dec.
1, 1806
June
12, 1807
Lay reader
Rev. John Kewley, M.D.
Mar.
8, 1809
Mar.
10, 1813
6th Rector
Rev. Birdsey G. Noble
Mar.
8, 1813
Sept. 10, 1828
7th Rector
Rev. Smith Pyne
Jan. 23, 1829
Aug. 18, 1830
8th Rector
Rev. George Jones
Mar.
16, 1831
Sept. 5, 1831
9th Rector
Rev. Smith Pyne
Sept.
11, 1831
Aug.
17, 1836
Rev. Samuel F. Jarvis, D.D.
Nov.
1, 1836
Mar. 28, 1842
10th Rector
Rev. John Williams, Asst.
May
4, 1840
Mar. 28, 1842
Rev. Edwin W. Wiltbank
Apr. 11, 1842
May 20, 1843
11th Rector
Rev. Henry B. Sherman
July
1843
Nov. 19, 1843
Officiated
Rev. Horace Hills, Jr.
Feb.
11, 1844
May
29, 1845
12th Rector
Rev. F. J. Goodwin, D.D.
Aug.
24, 1845
Feb. 29, 1872
13th Rector
Rev. F. Gardiner, D.D., Asst
Dec. 1, 1867
Mar. 29, 1869
Rev. W. Mitchell, Asst.
Apr. 30, 1869
Apr. 1, 1872
Rev. W. Mitchell, Rector
Apr. 2, 1872
Apr.
1, 1876
14th Rector
Rev. S. D. McConnell
Aug. 13, 1876
Feb. 1, 1882
15th Rector
Rev. A B. Crawford, Asst.
June, 1878
June 1, 1879
Rev. George S. Pine, Asst.
June 22, 1879
March,
1880
Rev. F. G. Burgess, Asst.
June 1, 1881
Apr. 10, 1882
Rev. A. D. Miller, Rector
Mar. 1, 1882
Apr. 10, 1883
16th Rector
Rev. J. Lewis Parks
June 8, 1883
Oct. 27, 1891
17th Rector
Rev. W. F. Nichols, Asst.
June 11, 1873
July 4, 1875
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RECTORS AND ASSISTANTS SINCE 1891
Rev. E. Campion Acheson Apr. 17, 1892 Nov. 4, 1915 18th Rector
Rev. Frank F. German
May 15, 1916 Sept. 1, 1937 19th Rector
Rev. Clyde D. Wilson
Dec. 1, 1937
20th Rector
ASSISTANT RECTORS
Since the Rev. F. G. Burgess resigned as assistant to the rector of the parish in 1882 a number of men have served in that capacity. For the majority of them, their terms of office were short. Most of these men were Berkeley graduates who had taken deacons' orders and many of them, after they were ordained and had had a little experience, went on to larger fields.
Following is a list of these assistants :
Rev. William Walter Webb
1885-1885
Rev. William S. Short
1886-1887
Rev. Maurice L. Cowl
1887-1888
Rev. Samuel S. Mitchell
1888-1891
Rev. William Worthington
1891-1893
Rev. Frank F. German
1893-1896
Rev. Charles J. Sniffen
1897-1900
Rev. F. A. Reeves
1900-1901
Rev. H. S. Habersham
A few months-1902
Rev. Gilbert E. Pember
1902-1905
Rev. J. Edward Hand
1905-1906
Rev. Hervey B. Vanderbogart
1906-1911
Rev. Ellis B. Dean
1911-1913
Rev. James P. Faucon
1913-1917
Rev. Percy Norwood
1917-1918
Rev. Harold J. Edwards
1918-1924
Rev. Loring L. Emery
1941-
Rev. Harry W. Heermans
1942-
The men rendering the longest terms of service as assistants are: the Rev. Charles J. Sniffen, three years; the Rev. Gilbert E. Pember, three years; Dr. German, three and one half years; the Rev. James P. Faucon, four years; the Rev. Hervey B. Vander- bogart, five years and the Rev. Harold J. Edwards, six years. These men worked mostly in the missions of the parish, St. Andrew's and All Saints', where, because of their longer terms of office, their greater familiarity with the work and the people, their inter- est and efficiency, they rendered outstanding service.
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The Rev. Harold J. Edwards, of Trinity Church, Seymour, Connecticut was the last assistant to serve the parish before the appointment of Mr. Emery. Mr. Edwards, a graduate of Berkeley, was ordained in the parish church June 5, 1918 and entered at once on his duties as assistant. He served the parish efficiently for six years, a longer period than that of any other assistant rector. He resigned his position June 1, 1924 to take up work in Redding Ridge and Weston, Connecticut. January 15, 1928 he was called to the church in Seymour, Conn. which he still serves. Mr. Edwards married Catherine Sheldon of this city, a member of The Church of the Holy Trinity.
SUPPLIES
During the illness of Mr. Acheson, the Rev. James Stoddard supplied for a short time as acting rector. During Dr. German's rectorship the Rev. David Johns was priest in charge for six months while, because of illness, Dr. German took an extended vacation. Dr. Fleming James supplied for a short time before Mr. Johns began his work in the parish.
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COMMUNITY SERVICE
A MONG the members of the Church of the Holy Trinity, there have always been those who have given liberally of their money and of personal service to further, not only the interest of the church, but to help in a large way in every welfare and charac- ter-building undertaking in the city. It is obviously impossible to recount the gifts of money, many and large though they are, and to name all those who have rendered oustanding personal service to the community. In this latter group we find men and women from the church serving on boards, heading committees or acting on committees, helping with "drives", etc. Some specific, permanent projects, however, can be listed.
To Ebenezer Jackson, for forty-one years an official of the parish and for ten years senior warden, to him more than to any other person, the city owes the lovely Indian Hill Cemetery. He was a leader in acquiring the land; one of the original incorporat- ors ; a former president of the Indian Hill Association ; and an offi- cer in it from the date of its organization till his death.
St. Luke's Home for Aged Women owes its beginnings tc members of our parish. The original house owned by the corpora- tion was purchased largely with money given by them. The first Board of Trustees was incorporated June 22, 1865 and consisted of seven men, all members of the Church of the Holy Trinity. The rector of Holy Trinity is, ex officio, president of the Board and, according to the by-laws, the majority of the women making up the Board of Managers are members of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Substantial legacies left by two church women, Elvira Williams and Harriet M. McKinster, made possible the building of a more adequate home, as well as other improvements. The Home is open to eligible women, regardless of creed or nationality, and has brought to the many whose home it has been, or is, a sense of security, of watchful care, and of ease of mind in their declining years.
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A former member of our parish who rendered incalculable ser- vice to the City of Middletown is Mrs. Frances A. Russell who gave Russell Library to the city. At the time when the church edifice in which we now worship was built and the old one vacated, Mrs. Russell bought the old building for $15,000; November 13, 1875, she gave it to the city to be used as a public library, a memorial to her late husband, Samuel Russell, whose picture on the book plate of every book that goes out from the library, is familiar to the vast number of men, women, and children who read them. The invaluable benefit that the library has been to the community is beyond words. Its books have gone into the homes of high and low, rich and poor, bringing profit and pleasure to all. The reading rooms are used freely by people of all classes who feel at home in what they consider-as, of course, Mrs. Russell intended it to be- their library. The interest and courtesy of the staff are proverb- ial and account for the friendly atmosphere which characterizes the library. In 1930 the addition to house the children's room was built. While the city paid for the erection of this addition, Mrs. E. Kent Hubbard, with the assistance of her mother, Mrs. Mary Keep: Otis, planned the room and helped furnish it and the reference room. Mrs. Otis also contributed regularly to the music section of the library.
Middletown maintains ten playgrounds in the summer. In several cases the land on which the playground is operated is loaned to the city. Of those municipally owned, four were given to the city by members of our church : Some years ago Col. Clarence S. Wadsworth gave land for a playground south of the de Koven House. It is called the Wadsworth Playground and has been in constant use for several years, being one of Middletown's earliest playgrounds.
June 1, 1917 the late T. McDonough Russell gave to the city a piece of land on the west side of East Main Street near the site of the old Causeway Bridge. It was given for a public playground and was to be known as the Henry G. Hubbard Playground.
June 22, 1921 the late Mrs. Mary Keep Otis gave to the city a plot of land on Hanover Street to be used as a playground. It is called the Otis Playground. While living in Middletown, Mrs. Otis attended Holy Trinity Church and for a year or more had active charge of the Girls' Friendly Society. November 30, 1925 Mrs.
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Otis gave another piece of land to the city, a tract of about nine acres. This is situated on Russell Street near Pameacha Pond and is known as the Municipal Field; it is, by far, the most important and extensive area owned by the city and used for sports. It is in constant use for baseball and other games.
One of the playgrounds maintained on land loaned to the city, is the Palmer Playing Field in Staddle Hill, loaned by Mr. Town- send Palmer.
In 1936 Thomas M. Russell, Jr. gave to Wesleyan University the Russell Homestead on High Street now used by the Honors College. This mansion is one of the most valuable and architectur- ally beautiful buildings in the city and, with the adjoining grounds, constitutes the "show place" of Middletown.
Another fine service rendered the community by a former parishioner, is the remodelling and enlarging of the home occupied and owned by the District Nurse Association by Mrs. Eleanor Wilcox in memory of her late husband, William W. Wilcox, Jr. The improvements to the building include an addition which con- tains a large one-story room called the Memorial Room. This room, which seats about one hundred persons and is available for meet- ings, was dedicated with appropriate exercises December 11, 1941. While Mrs. Wilcox lived in Middletown she took a very keen interest in the District Nurse Association and was its efficient president for several years.
It would be a completely impossible undertaking to recount the part that members of our church have had in establishing the Middlesex Hospital in our city, and in carrying on its work. The charter to organize the hospital was obtained from the legis- lature June 18, 1895. At first there was little interest in the project of building a hospital. In 1900 a legacy of $10,000 from the estate of Mrs. Henry G. Hubbard was left for this purpose. Then in 1903 the legislature made an appropriation of $20,000 for it. In September of that same year Mr. Herbert L. Camp and his sister, Mrs. E. Hershey Sneath of New Haven conveyed to the directors of the hospital their house and land known as the Camp Homestead. This gift came at a critical time and now, with what had already been given, public interest was aroused and the early opening of the hospital became an assured fact. The building was ready for occu- pancy in the spring of 1904, and May 23 of that year the first
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patient was admitted. Mrs. Hubbard had long been a devoted member of the church and one of its most generous benefactors. Mr. Camp was also a member of our church. He served for a long time as an active member of the Board of Directors of the hospital and is now a director emeritus. The hospital's first honorary mem- bers and vice-presidents for life were all from our church : Messrs. I. E. Palmer, E. K. Hubbard, C. S. Wadsworth, and H. L. Camp. Many members have served or are serving on the Board of Direc- tors, among them Dr. O. S. Watrous who, with Mr. H. L. Camp, rendered invaluable service on the Building Committee when the first addition to the hospital was being built. Mr. Townsend Palmer served on the Board and was its secretary for a number of years. The Palmer and the Hubbard cottages were given respec- tively by Mr. I. E. Palmer and Mr. E. K. Hubbard.
Many services to the hospital by members have, necessarily, been omitted: gifts of money, special pieces of equipment, scientific and domestic, and aid of many kinds.
When the Hospital Aid Society was organized, January 22, 1907, Mrs. T. M. Russell was elected president, a position which she held until the Society was dissolved about two years ago and reorganized on a different basis as the Women's Auxiliary to the Hospital.
Col. Clarence S. Wadsworth, besides serving the hospital as a director, as a member of committees, and as a generous donor, endowed a memorial room known as the Wadsworth Room. He also purchased for the hospital the adjoining Churchill property, which site helps make possible the present extension program of the hospital. This gift is known as the "Wadsworth Hectar."
Because of the many permanent and generous gifts made to the city by Col. Clarence S. Wadsworth, the name of "Wadsworth" will go down in its history as long as there is a Middletown. During his lifetime he was greatly interested in beautifying Middletown, in preserving its beauty spots, and in creating others, and for that end he served on the Middletown Park Board and on the City Planning Commission. By gifts and services contributed before his death, and by his will, he transferred, through the Rockfall Corporation, a charitable and educational foundation created by him and of which Mrs. Wadsworth is a director, much land to the City of Middletown and to the State of Connecticut. These gifts in-
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clude a tract of land on the Haddam Road, on which is Bible Rock, which was given to the state as a public park. Through the Corporation, extensive real estate consisting of 267 acres situated in Middletown and Middlefield was also given for a state park. Besides other attractive features this tract includes a river, a pond, and three beautiful waterfalls. It is called the Wadsworth Falls State Park.
Pike's Ravine, between High Street and Pine Street, was made available for public use through Col. Wadsworth's foresight and generosity. In 1909 he financed a new location for Long Lane, then called Babcock Street, and planted in front of Long Lane School an arboretum consisting of every variety of trees found in this part of the United States.
By his will Col. Wadsworth gave to the Rockfall Corporation the de Koven house on lower Washington St., long the home of the de Koven family, now used as a community center. The gift included the barn, now named de Koven Annex, and the adjoining grounds. In the deed of gift it was directed that the house should provide offices and meeting rooms for various social organizations. When the House was dedicated July 19, 1942 as a Community Center, offices had been provided for the Rockfall Corp., the Community Chest, the Council of Social Agencies, the Famiy Welfare Associa- tion and the Boy and Girl Scouts, and Juvenile Court of Middlesex County. In the original plan of the assignment of headquarters to the various agencies, it was arranged to have the Red Cross occupy the ell of the House and the Annex was to be given over to the agencies for juvenile work : the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and the Juvenile Court of Middlesex County. The war, however, made necessary changes in this plan. The work of the Red Cross increased to such an extent that the de Koven Annex was given over entirely to its activities for the duration of the war and the juvenile agencies occupy the ell. De Koven Annex is now the Red Cross center for Middlesex County. Here all the different phases of the work are carried on : distribution, cutting, sewing, the mak- ing of surgical dressings, conducting of classes in nursing, canteen work, etc.
Meetings of the Middletown Female Charitable Society, the second oldest incorporated charitable society in the country, are held in the Memorial Rooms. Mrs. Henry de Koven, the great-great
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grandmother of Col. Wadsworth, was an early president of this society. His mother, Mrs. Julius Wadsworth, held this office for over twenty years.
One of the rooms in the de Koven House is reserved for the use of the Rockfall Corporation directors; another, the Memorial Room, for the board meetings and public gatherings of the various agencies housed in the community center. Both of these rooms are beautifully furnished, in part with original furniture of the de Koven family. Mrs. Wadsworth, whose keen interest in the project and whose personal gifts made possible the restoration of the House and 'Annex, planned and provided the beautiful decora- tions of the board and memorial rooms. She has also had active charge of that work as well as of planning the arrangement of the grounds. Directly opposite de Koven House is a plot of land, now developed into a park for the comfort of mothers and child- ren in the neighborhood. All these developments of the de Koven property have been carried out by Mrs. Wadsworth as a memorial to her late husband.
Col. Wadsworth was a fine classical scholar and his private library of over four thousand volumes contained a large and valu- able collection of books relating to the Greek and Latin languages and literatures ; also a number of rare copies of the original Hebrew and Greek Old and New Testaments. These he gave to Wesleyan University and they constitute one of the most priceless additions ever made to the Olin Library.
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GIFTS AND MEMORIALS
T HE church records show that from the very earliest time there have been devoted and generous members who have given of their substance to further the welfare of the parish and to make its place of worship more convenient and more beautiful.
These gifts have taken various forms, among them: bonds, stocks, real estate, mortgages, and ready money. In the instances where money was given, the donors many times specified definitely the purpose for which it was to be used: paying notes held against the parish ; towards the debt on the rectory ; for a new parish house ; for the building funds for All Saints' and St. Andrew's; for the poor of the parish; and for various other designated projects. Sometimes money has been left to be used at the rector's discre- tion.
Other gifts have taken the form of specific articles of equip- ment for the church or the parish house which have contributed to the making of our church the dignified and beautiful place of worship it is. This dignity and beauty did not come about by chance. Each article of furnishings and each effective result speaks of the loving thought and care and generosity of loyal and devoted members and friends of the parish. Most of these gifts are memor- ials given in, affectionate memory of loved ones.
One of the earliest gifts recorded is the bell now in use and given in 1785 by John Alsop, then of New York. Mrs. Martha Mortimer Starr who died in 1848 was a most generous donor. In her will she left to the parish, as has been stated, the land on which the church and the rectory now stand and on which stood the house in which she lived. She also left considerable household furnish- ings for the rectory.
Many memorial tablets and beautiful stained glass windows were placed in the church in earlier days. Among them are those in memory of Emily Williams; Henry Louis de Koven ; William de Koven, U.S.N .; Eliza Winthrop Sebor; Cornelia Ann Sebor;
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Elizabeth Winthrop Sebor; Mary E. Woodward; William Bryan Casey, M.D .; Frank W. Russell, Catherine T. Goodwin, G. Her- bert Goodwin ; S. Wadsworth Russell; Samuel Russell ; and Freder- ick Jordan Goodwin. Besides these there are other of the stained glass windows that are evidently, not memorials; or, if so, are not marked. Some have Bible inscriptions on them but no names or dates. One, a memorial, is simply marked M. C. O. with no date or inscription. Another, is marked, "Dominus refugium sWs." A beauti- ful window at the east end of the church high up over the main entrance is in memory of Joseph Wright Alsop and Lucy Alsop.
The memorial tablets are now all in the main vestibule and in the north and south entrance porches. In the north porch are tablets in memory of the Rev. Henry de Koven, D.D. and of his wife Charlotte LeRoy; and one in memory of Margaret, daughter of Jacob Sebor and wife of Henry Louis de Koven. In the south vestibule are two tablets, one in memory of Fanny Alsop and the other of Jonathan Peters Pelton, vestryman and warden of this parish, 1883-1917.
In the main vestibule are six tablets in memory of James de Koven, D.D .; Harriet M. Makinster; Stephen Clay; Martha Morti- mer Starr; and Frederick J. Goodwin, D.D. Dr. Goodwin's tablet carries the inscription :
To the glory of God and in memory of Frederick Jordan Goodwin, D.D.
By whose labors under God this church was builded.
The last tablet to be placed there is the one in memory of Bishop Acheson which was given by some of his friends in the parish whose names follow :
Miss Edith A. V. Bengston Miss Emily V. Binney
The Misses Alice R., Minnie E., and Julia A. Brazos
Mr. Joseph Brazos The Misses Avalon and Louise Briscoe
Mr. and Mrs. George Burnham
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Col. and Mrs. Herbert L. Camp Mr. Elton E. Clark Miss Helen E. Cutts Mrs. William B. Douglas
Mrs. Carmine Fabrizio
Miss Grace R. Gabrielle
Miss Abbie M. Gilbert
Miss Mary G. Jones Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Jones
Mrs. Susan I. Miller
Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Rice Mrs. George M. Reiland
Mrs. Fidelia Ritter
Mrs. T. Macdonough Russell
Miss M. H. Sinclair
Mrs. Charles W. Warner
Mr. Frederick H. Wetherby
and the Evening Branch of Woman's Auxiliary in memory of Caroline R. Cooke, a devout churchwoman and a faithful friend.
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The tablet bears the following inscription :
In Loving Memory of Edward Campion Acheson 1858 1934
Rector-Church of the Holy Trinity 1892 1915
Suffragan Bishop of Connecticut 1915 1926
Coadjutor Bishop of Connecticut 1926 1928
Sixth Bishop of Connecticut 1928 1934
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course. I have kept the faith." II Timothy 4:7
"My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles Who now will be my rewarder . .... So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side."-Pil- grim's Progress.
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