USA > Connecticut > Middlesex County > Middletown > A brief history of the First Church of Christ in Middletown, Connecticut for two centuries and a half, 1668-1918 > Part 6
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Mr. Horace F. Boardman had been a mem- ber of this Church since 1857. For a short time he was its clerk and treasurer. Later, he was a member of the Society's Committee and its assistant treasurer. His loyalty to the Church was most genuine, and his sudden de- parture was mourned by all who knew his many estimable qualities.
In March, 1897, Miss Emily Tracy passed from earth at the ripe age of ninety-three years. She had been a member of the Church since 1821, more than three-fourths of a century,
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being " full of good works and almsdeeds which she did." As a teacher of the Bible, which she revered and loved, both in words and in life, as the first President of the Woman's Foreign Mis- sionary Society, and prominent in other charitable organizations, Miss Tracy was long a conspicuous figure in the Church and in the community. A brief memorial of her by her pastor was published in a pamphlet.
In March and April a series of special Sun- day evening addresses was given, as follows: Some Positive Results of Biblical Criticism, by the Rev. Henry A. Starks, D.D .; The Inspira- tion of the Bible, by the Rev. Wesley W. Smith; Modern Phases of Thought in Christian Evi- dences, by Professor William North Rice, LL.D .; China, by the Rev. James H. Roberts, and New Light from Palestine, by the pastor.
The year 1898 was marked by the gift to the Church of its baptismal font and pulpit fur- niture, to which reference is made elsewhere. The fine pulpit Bible, with its exquisite mark, was presented at the same time by Miss Katharine Mather Mansfield, in memory of her mother, Mrs. Louisa Mather Mansfield, the widow of Gen. Joseph K. F. Mansfield. At the same time the Bee Society gave to the Church its useful hymn tablets.
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In July of the year 1898 Ex-Governor O. Vincent Coffin and the pastor were delegates from the Connecticut Conference of Congrega- tional Churches to the National Council at Portland, Oregon. Mr. Coffin was chosen the First Assistant Moderator of the Council.
On Sunday morning, February 19, 1899, Mr. Luther D. Wishard addressed the congregation on the Forward Movement in Missions. At this service pledges were made more than suf- ficient to maintain a foreign missionary for one year. Soon after, the Rev. Herman N. Barnum, D.D., of Harpoot, Turkey, was assigned to this Church as its missionary. He continued in this capacity for ten years, until his death.
The pastor was absent from May 16 to Sep- tember II, for a vacation in England and Scot- land. President Raymond and Professor Rice, of the University, and Professor Jacobus, of the Hartford Seminary, were the main preachers in his absence. October 16 the Rev. John Brown, D.D., of Bedford, England, who was a guest of the pastor, addressed a large audience in the Church on John Bunyan. For many years Dr. Brown had made the life of Bunyan his constant study, and he had written the most
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complete biography of this brilliant dreamer, so that his address was an important event in the history of this town. December 13 the hun- dredth anniversary of the death of George Washington was commemorated by a service at which the pastor read a eulogy delivered in Hanover, N. H., January 9, 1800.
Members of this Church and Society took an honorable part in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Middletown, in the summer of 1900. Hon. O. Vincent Coffin was the Chairman of the General Committee, the pastor that of the Committee on Literary Exercises, and Mr. Walter B. Hubbard that of the Committee on a Permanent Memorial. The Historical Address was given by Professor John Fiske of Cambridge, Massachusetts, a former member of this Church. It was largely due to Mr. Hubbard that the superb boulder, with its bronze tablet, fitly inscribed, was placed at the head of Main Street, on the site occupied by the earliest settlers. In November and De- cember of this year a religious census of the town was taken by representatives of the Con- necticut Bible Society. These canvassers re- ported Middletown as much above the average of towns in the State in the matter of attendance upon public worship.
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At the Annual Meeting of the Church in January, 1901, it was voted to create the office of Deaconess. Mrs. Samuel G. Smith and Mrs. Mary A. Bradley were chosen to fill it for the ensuing year. Since that time Deacon- esses have been elected each year, and they have rendered efficient service.
In June, 1902, the State Convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution was held in this Church. It was a large and enthu- siastic gathering. Several meetings of the Mid- dlesex County Historical Society were held here, it being the formative period of the Society.
At the beginning of the fiscal year of the Society, May 1, 1903, a radical change was made in the music for public worship. The choir was discontinued, and Judge Wesley U. Pearne, after thirty years of service as organist, resigned the position. Mr. Stanley Ross Fisher, of Yale University, was secured as musical director. He acted as precentor, and sang a solo each Sunday morning and evening. He also conducted rehearsals in the chapel Sat- urday evenings for all who would attend them. " In Excelsis " had been introduced as the hymn book the previous April. This arrangement created a marked improvement in the singing of
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the congregation. It was continued till the autumn of 1904, when Mr. Fisher resigned on account of failure in health, and a choir was engaged to take his place.
In the evening of June 30 the Wesleyan Uni- versity held a service in this Church, commem- orating the Bi-Centennial of the birth of John Wesley. The Governor of the State, Hon. Abiram Chamberlain, presided at this meeting and made a brief address. President Woodrow Wilson of Princeton University was the chief speaker. The array of dignitaries in the house was imposing. In addition to the above, Gov. Bates of Massachusetts, Ex-Gov. Coffin of Con- necticut, Secretary Shaw of the United States Treasury, the Presidents of many Colleges, with Professors representing others, various other officers of Church and State, helped to make the immense audience one of the most notable ever gathered in Middletown.
The year 1904 was noteworthy by reason of the number of talented speakers who honored the Church with their presence. Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson lectured in the Sunday School Room on People I Have Met. The Rev. John K. Browne, of Harpoot, Turkey, told the people of life in that city, the home of
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Dr. H. N. Barnum, the foreign pastor of the Church. Dr. Edward E. Strong, the Editorial Secretary of the American Board, told the story of his recent visit to South Africa. Brigadier Lamb gave a vivid narrative of the work of the Salvation Army. During the week before Easter addresses were made by Professors Beardslee, Jacobus, and Livingston, of the Hartford Seminary. The Rev. James W. Cooper, D.D., Secretary of the American Mis- sionary Association, spoke in its behalf. Pro- fessor A. Campbell Armstrong, Ph.D., of Wesleyan University, a member of this Church, read an instructive paper on The Enrichment of Worship. The Rev. George F. Pentecost, D.D., conducted union evangelistic services in this and the Methodist Episcopal Church for two weeks. During these he gave an illumi- nating address here on The Orient, the Anglo- Saxon, and Christianity. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn, gave a brilliant lecture in the Young People's Course, on Oliver Cromwell. Dr. George F. Herrick, of Constantinople, one of the ablest men this country has sent to the Orient, pictured most forcibly mission work in that renowned city. Thus this year has hardly ever been surpassed,
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if at all, in the variety of instruction and stimu- lus given to the people of this parish.
In 1906 three prominent members of the Church were removed by death, viz., Walter B. Ferguson, Samuel G. Smith, and George H. Hulbert. Mr. Ferguson had been for eighteen years the highly esteemed Superintendent of the City Schools, and a most useful citizen. Mr. Smith was an old resident of Middletown, hav- ing been a loyal member of the Church for seventy years, and deeply interested in its wel- fare. Mr. Hulbert was a descendant of the Rev. Enoch Huntington, so long the honored pastor of the Church. He had been active in the affairs of the Church and Society, as well as a citizen of genuine public spirit.
In the summer of this year the audience room of the house of worship was renovated, together with the chapel and parlors. The Bee Society contributed $2,000 of the $8,000 thus expended. Mrs. Horace F. Boardman gave new glass for the windows, and the ornamental electric light fixtures were presented by Walter Hubbard, Esq., of Meriden. Mr. Walter B. Hubbard, of the Society's Committee, exercised a constant and an intelligent oversight of all changes and decorations. With the exception of repairs
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necessitated by the fire of 1878, this was the first renovation which the fine edifice had received since its completion in 1873.
In January, 1907, Deacon Charles A. Board- man, the oldest member of the Church, passed to his reward. He had been an officer in the Church for thirty-six years, and the treasurer of its Sunday School for forty years. Also, he had been the clerk and treasurer of the First Ecclesiastical Society for about twenty-five years. A life-long resident of Middletown, scrupulously faithful to all trusts committed to him, eminent for integrity and beneficence, his ninety-five years were lived with honor to him- self and with blessing to the community.
In June of this year Mr. Arthur H. Hope, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary, was secured as an assistant to the pastor, and as the Superintendent of the Sunday School. Mr. Hope served in these relations for two years with fidelity and success. He left Middletown to become the pastor of the Congregational Church in Madison, Connecticut. He was or- dained to the Christian Ministry in January, 1908, Professor Julius A. Bewer, of the Union Seminary, preaching on the occasion.
In October, 1908, the Church was called to
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mourn the death of Mr. James H. Bunce. Com- ing into its fellowship in the prime of his man- hood, he had been for thirty-five years a promi- nent factor in its maintenance and its growth. For thirty years he was an influential member of the Standing Committee of the Society, and for twenty years its chairman. His sterling character, his unsparing labors, his liberal gifts, his conspicuous success in his business calling, left an impression on the Church and the town which will not soon be effaced.
In November Mr. Frank B. Weeks, a mem- ber of this Church since 1878, was elected Lieut. Governor of the Commonwealth. After the death of the Governor early in the following year Mr. Weeks filled the office the remainder of the two years' term with credit to himself and with acceptance to the people.
At the Communion Service in May, 1909, in- dividual cups were first used. The vote to adopt them, taken the previous March, was nearly unanimous. The cups and four plates for bread were presented by Mr. Denison W. Clarke, in memory of his wife.
In June Mr. Charles H. Workman succeeded Mr. Hope as assistant to the pastor and Super- intendent of the Sunday School. He occupied
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these positions for two years with unusual energy and fidelity. For several years there- after he was the popular Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association of Middle- town, being granted a leave of absence from that office for service in connection with the army.
In October Mr. Walter E. Clark, a member of this Church since 1891, and a graduate of Wesleyan University, entered upon his duties as the Governor of Alaska.
In December the Church was afflicted by the death of the Hon. Josiah M. Hubbard, one of its most intelligent and efficient members. As an officer in the Civil War he was courageous and skillful. Not only was he honored in Kan- sas, the state of his adoption, with positions of trust, but later in his native town and state, he was appointed to responsible offices, whose duties he discharged with eminent ability and success.
In the summer of this year, 1909, through the generous gifts of the Sunday School and of individuals, the Society was able to redecorate and refurnish the Sunday School Room, making it more attractive and useful than ever before. This commodious hall is not only most service-
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able to the Sunday School, but it is a rare place for lectures and other entertainments.
In May, 1910, a splendid Historical Tablet was placed in the vestibule of the house of wor- ship, consisting of three panels of antique brass, encased in a heavy frame of elegantly carved English oak. The central compartment has the date of the settlement of the town, with a brief sketch of the early worship here, and a notice of the five buildings erected by the Church. Underneath is the inscription : - " To com- memorate the faithful and uninterrupted wor- ship of God in this community for over 250 years, this tablet is placed in the year of our Lord, 1910." "But I will for their sakes re- member the covenant of their ancestors: I am the Lord."
On the left panel are carved the names of the founders of the Church, on the right, the names of the ten pastors, with the dates of their ser- vice. Below all, is stated the fact that the tab- let was planned by Walter Bulkley Hubbard, and presented by his widow, Katharine Mans- field Hubbard, to his abiding memory.
This noble memorial is a beautiful tribute to Mr. Hubbard, who was for many years a zealous officer of the Society, as was his father,
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Mr. J. Warren Hubbard, a long time before him.
Two members of the Church whom death claimed in this year will not soon be forgotten. Miss S. Elizabeth Kilbourn, who died in Sep- tember, had been a life-long resident of Middle- town, and warmly enlisted in many of the activities of the Church. She showed her at- tachment to our institutions by legacies to two of them. The Ladies' Home Missionary So- ciety received from her estate $500. Another of her bequests was made as follows : " I give and bequeath to the First Ecclesiastical Society of Middletown the sum of two thousand dol- lars ($2,000), to be held by said Society as a perpetual fund, to be called the " Mrs. Jonathan Kilbourn Fund," the annual income only to be used by said Society."
Mrs. Horace F. Boardman, who died in Oc- tober, was abundant in labors and in gifts for the Church. The sharers of her munificence were more than the public ever knew. Not only was she one of the two donors of the ad- mirable new parsonage, of which mention is made elsewhere, but a clause in her will reads thus : - " I give, devise and bequeath unto the First Ecclesiastical Society of Middletown, Con-
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necticut, the sum of five thousand dollars ($5,000), to be held by them in trust forever, the income thereof to be applied annually as payment for pew No. 54 in the Church edifice of said Society, a plate to be placed on said pew, and marked "The Horace F. Boardman Pew," the same to be known as the Horace F. Boardman Pew and to be forever used as a free seat." In case of the destruction of the present building, the same provision is to apply to a new one.
Some years before, Mrs. Boardman had placed in the Church a beautiful window of richly colored glass of exquisite design, as a memorial to her husband. While the Hendley Memorial structure on the grounds of the Mid- dlesex Hospital, reared after her death, is a monument to her liberality.
In June, 1911, Mr. Percy C. Ladd, a graduate of Union Seminary, took the place of Mr. Workman, as the pastor's assistant and the Superintendent of the Sunday School. He was ordained here in October, 1911, President Fran- cis Brown, D.D., LL.D., of Union Seminary, preaching on the occasion. Mr. Ladd rendered fruitful service here for two years, and later became the pastor of the First Church in Moline, Illinois.
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The principal event of the year was the com- pletion of the Memorial Parsonage. This spacious house was the gift of Mrs. Horace F. Boardman and Mrs. James H. Bunce, in memory of their husbands, both of whom were staunch supporters of the Church and Society. The former parsonage was taken down in August, 1910, and the new one was completed in June, 1911. Meanwhile the pastor's family occupied a part of the house at No. 238 High Street.
The new dwelling has sixteen finished rooms, besides two bath-rooms, an attic store-room, and a capacious basement. The exterior of the building is modelled after a colonial house in Salem, Massachusetts. It stands near the centre of the plot containing it, whereas the old dwelling was in the northwest corner. The edifice is much admired, as an ornament to Court Street, and as a fitting memorial to worthy men.
In 1912 the Great Reaper cut down two mem- bers of the Church whose usefulness had been exceptional, - Deacon Lucius R. Hazen and Mrs. O. Vincent Coffin. Mr. Hazen had been in the Church since 1871, and a Deacon since 1877. For many years he was the Superin- tendent of the Sunday School, giving it time,
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labor, and money, until it reached a high state of efficiency. As an intelligent and upright man of business, he had the confidence, the esteem, and the affection of the entire vicinity. His too early translation left the Church and the County far the poorer.
Mrs. Coffin, who died in July, had been in the Church since 1850, with the exception of a few years in the Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. She was especially devoted to the Sunday School, of which she was for many years an Assistant Superintendent, and her genial manner endeared her to all connected with this right arm of the Church. As a zealous officer in the Ladies' Home Missionary Society, and as one of the founders of the District Nurse Association, Mrs. Coffin wrought a good work, and left many happy memories.
The election of Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey to the Presidency of the United States in November of this year was an event of deep significance to this Church. Soon after coming to Middletown as a Professor in Wes- leyan University in 1888, he united with the First Church, and during his residence of two years in the city he was a constant attendant upon its services. His youngest daughter,
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Ellen Randolph, now Mrs. McAdoo, was born here and baptized by the pastor. He retained his connection with this Church till 1897, when he was granted a letter to the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, New Jersey.
In November, 1914, with the aid of a fund raised by the Sunday School during many years, the first house west of the Church edifice was purchased, to be used as a Parish House. The need of more room for the varied departments of the Church's work had long been felt. While this building, formerly a dwelling house, was not all that was desired, it seemed to be the best available. After some months, through the gifts of individuals the last payment on the house was made, it was renovated and equipped for its several purposes. Also, a fund of $2,000 was presented by a devoted member of the Church to assist in the maintenance of the house. It has already proved most serviceable along many lines of effort.
In September, 1915, Mr. Douglas Horton, a graduate of the Hartford Seminary the pre- vious May, began work as Assistant Pastor of the Church. He was ordained here in Decem- ber, President Mackenzie of the Hartford Semi- nary being the preacher.
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In April, 1916, the pastor resigned the office which he had held since March, 1869. In accordance with his wish the resignation was accepted by the Church and Society, he being invited to become the pastor emeritus. This withdrawal from the oversight of the Church did not take effect until September, 1916. Thus he was the pastor of the Church forty-seven years and six months, his being the longest pastorate in its history down to the present time.
Azel Washburn Hazen, son of the Rev. Austin and Lucia Washburn Hazen, was born in Berlin, Vermont, April 10, 1841. He was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1863, and received thence the degree of M. A. in 1866: that of D. D. in 1888. He studied theology at Hartford and Andover Seminaries, graduat- ing from the latter in 1868.
REV. DOUGLAS HORTON
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CHAPTER XI. THE BEGINNING OF THE MINISTRY OF DOUGLAS HORTON 1916-1918
At the annual meeting of the First Ecclesiasti- cal Society April 25, 1916, the Rev. Douglas Horton was invited to become the acting pastor of the Church from September to the following May. This invitation Mr. Horton accepted, and he so ably fulfilled the requirements of the position as to cause the people to desire that he be their permanent minister. This wish of the Church and the Society he gratified by consent- ing to assume the office. He was installed as pastor at an Ecclesiastical Council on the seventh of June, 1917. The preacher on the occasion was the Rev. Samuel Parkes Cadman, D.D., pastor of the Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn, New York. An unusual and an attractive feature of the services was the fact that the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, and the Episcopal clergymen of the city took part in them.
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Mr. Horton was the eleventh minister in- stalled as pastor of the Church since its organi- zation in 1668. The average duration of the ten pastorates preceding his was about twenty- four years. He began his ministry at so early an age there is reason to hope that he may not lower this remarkable average. He entered upon his service with all the enthusiasm of a vigorous youth, and the esteem in which he had been held in his period of labor as an assistant and as an acting pastor, rapidly increased. He shared the feelings and the sports of the young, winning their confidence and their affection. While those who were older believed that the prosperity of the past was about to be continued and enlarged under his zealous ministrations. He exhibited a genuine interest in the work of other Churches and Christian institutions in the community, and won the high regard of all persons with whom he came in contact.
For the first four months of 1918 the Bap- tist, Methodist Episcopal, and the Congrega- tional Churches in the city, for the sake of con- serving fuel, held united services on Sunday mornings. These took place by rotation in the different houses of worship. It was felt that they deepened the sentiment of Christian broth-
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erhood among the people. The two Congre- gational Churches still worship together, an agreement having been made to continue the plan for a number of months.
In April of this year the Church was surprised and grieved by the resignation of its pastor. The European War which Germany had in- augurated in 1914 absorbed the attention of America to an unwonted degree, even before our own country was forced to enter into it for the sake of its own honor and for defending human freedom and Christian civilization. But when our nation was compelled by repeated in- sults in our intercourse with Germany and by ruthless destruction of our commerce and of human lives, to declare war against the un- scrupulous offender, the people were aroused as never before since the Civil War. Our young men enlisted in large numbers and gigantic prep- arations for war began in all parts of the land.
The young pastor, on fire with patriotic im- pulses as he was, felt that he must have a share in this world conflict. But the people here whose hearts he had won and among whom he had wrought with tireless energy during his brief residence in Middletown, were unwilling that the ecclesiastical tie which bound him to
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them should be so soon severed. Hence they declined to accept his resignation, but granted him leave of absence for one year from the time when he should leave the city. His work here continued till the first of July. After a vacation he was summoned to Charlestown, Mass., for training in reference to a chaplaincy in the navy, for which he had offered himself to the govern- ment some weeks earlier. Meanwhile the Rev. William H. Hall, recently connected with the Syrian Protestant College in Beirut, Syria, had been engaged as acting pastor for one year. He and his family are now (September, 1918), occupying the parsonage, and Mr. Hall is com- mending himself as a "workman that needeth not to be ashamed." In accordance with a previous arrangement the two Congregational Churches in the city are worshipping together, the services alternating between their respective houses of worship. Mr. Hall and the Rev. Frederick W. Greene, pastor of the South Church, conduct both the Sunday and the mid- week services. Thus the relation between the two Churches is more intimate than at any pre- vious period of their history.
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