USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Oxford > A history of Christ Church, Quaker Farms in Oxford, Connecticut > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
38
Subscription List (Continued)
The first miting of the subscribers shall be holden at the house of AV Wills Sutart on Wednesday Heigh Day of Instant February at 56.66h &M 0
Named - Clark Beauty
Places of residence
$090 ten in bonds
-
Meleg Griffin
005 110 Keand fore Dollars $4.
$
0 10 100
Cyrus Perry Mehemich Durand
Oxford
Luke Bommel Daniel Curtis. ~ John Chatted for
Southbury
Hafin Work 10.
Obeford
. 10 "
in Fresh
* John Smith
Osofor
"
in Works
Mafer Mobuchins
Dalby
8
John habe fur
5 in stone samme-
Markus Higher -
2
-
ox Leymus Hedwhims -
Oxford
101 8 16:00
Southbury
$ 16. 00
$5,00 June Dollars in Work in tember bond or labor 00 in Labour. in Labaun 00
15 -
17 8-07/3
39
Subscription List (Continued)
-
3 -
nivel i Franch
3
2
X
"Won ton
Tham Hurk Southbury
Ben yamine Hun-
15-0
- Dann Hura ....
+Stephen Bateman
10-0 20 -- CX 3 .--
Wallis Smith
John Plall
oxford.
1 7
$ 127 .. 0
$10.30 in Hork
.
Re: 16 January 1813. In the within swingment Fifty Dollars $00.000 by- Asahile Htund_ -
40
and species we here unto annex to our respective names, which several sums and species, we bind ourselves, our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators to pay unto the said Judson, Tomlinson & Wooster, or according to their order, on or before the first day of January 1813 as wit- ness our hands. The conditions of this obligation are such; that the said Judson, Tomlinson & Wooster shall collect the subscribed money and species, and shall pay, or deliver the same to a committee of 7 to be chosen by the subscribers at their first meeting, which committee shall erect a chapel, for the celebration of public worship in that part of Oxford called Quaker's Farm; to stand on the main road of sd farm; and to be erected on that part of sd road, which lies between the house of Wells Judson, and the new bridge on Southbury road, the particular spot to be appointed by a majority of the subscribers. Provid- ed that said subscribers do not agree as to the place, it shall be decided by a disinterested committee chosen by the subscribers.
The size and decoration of sd house, and the manner of building the same, to be determined by the committee aforesaid. The sd chapel shall be the sole property of the church call'd the protestant episcopal church, and its pres- ent bishop, and his successors; to be used by them without molestation, or interruption, whenever they shall meet for the performance of divine worship there in. It is however the understanding of the subscribers that sd chapel is to be used, and improved for a place of public worship by every denomination of christians known and allowed of in this state at any and all times when said chapel shall not be occupied by the ministers of the episcopal church afore said; and shall be allowed to celebrate Divine Service, and preach therein, without hindrance or molestation. Provid- ed that in case of interference of ministers, the officiating one shall be decided by lot, unless said ministers, being present, agree otherwise. It is however calculated by the subscribers, that the members of the afore said episcopal church, are not to be entitled to the use of said chapel more than an equal half of the time.
The first meeting of the subscribers shall be holden at the house of Mr. Wells Judson on Wednesday the 19th day of Instant February at 5 o'clock P.M.
41
Names
Places of residence
Sum & Species
Clark Beardsley
Oxford
$ 030
ten in bonds
Samuel Lewis
Oxford
005
Peleg Griffin
Oxford
007
David Smith
Southbury
010 Recd fore Dollars $4
Edward Bassett
Oxford
28
William Burr Jr.
Southbury
005
Asahel Scott
Southbury
005
Salmon Griffin
Oxford
010
100
Russel Thorpe
Southbury
$ 5,00
Two dollars in work
Cyrus Perry
Oxford
15.00 in timber boards or labour
Nehemiah Durand
Oxford
7.00 in labour
Luke Bunnel
Oxford
5.00
in labour
Daniel Curtis
Southbury
5.00
John Chatfield Jr.
Oxford
5.00
---
David Smith Jr.
Oxford
10.00
half in work
John Smith
Oxford
10.00
in work
Gideon Gibbs
Oxford
2.00
in work
Moses Hawkins
New Town
15.00
Ellitt Bissel
Derby
8.00 Paid January 8, 1813
John Bissel Jr.
Oxford
8.00 Paid $5
Markus Hyde
Oxford
5.00
in stone lime
Cyrus Hawkins
Oxford
2.00
John Davis Jr.
Oxford
4.00
Gideon Chatfield
Oxford
10.00
$116.00
Lois Wooster
Oxford
$ 3-0
Daniel Finch
Oxford
3-0
Sarah Finch
Oxford
2-0
Fanny Wooster
Oxford
1-0
William Hurd
Southbury
55-0
Benjamin Hurd
15-0
David Hurd
10-0
Stephen Bateman
20-0
Yelverton Perry
3-0
Wyllys Smith
5-0
Eunice Hyde
3-0
in work
John Platt, Oxford
7-0
in Boards
$127-0
Asael Hyde $20
Asahel Hyde of Oxford $10.60 in work as for his account rendered and on File
Note on the foregoing -
It will be noted that actual subscriptions of the collectors
42
Wells Judson, David Tomlinson Esqr. and Nathaniel Wooster are not given. They are said to have been the largest subscribers.
The total subscription on the list, -
1st group
$100.00
2d group
116.00
3d group
127.00
The two Hydes
30.60
Total
$373.60
In considering the value of these subscriptions, account should be taken of the different rate of wages paid in those days from those prevailing at the present time and the length of the working day.
A few expert mechanics, such as ship's carpenters were paid two dollars a day but common labor was paid about a dollar a day, and it is probable that in Quaker's Farm in 1812, carpenters were paid not more than $1.25 per day, and the working day was from sunrise to sunset, perhaps twelve hours on the average, making the hourly rate of pay a little over ten cents per hour; say 1/15th to 1/20th of to-day's rate. Hence the men who sub- scribed one dollar in 1812 would now perhaps be giving $20.00 and a fifty dollar subscription would now be $1000.00.
It is a pity we do not have a full record of the cost of the church or of the total subscribed.
Kinds of Subscribers.
It is interesting to note, in comparing the list of inhabitants of Quaker's Farm in 1790 with the list of the Members of the Episcopal Society in Oxford in 1795, that there are only two Quaker's Farm men listed as Episcopalians, namely, -
Silas Hawkins and Nathaniel Wooster.
David Tomlinson is listed as living in Quaker's Farm in 1790 but not as an Episcopalian in the 1795 list.
Also, it will be noted that in the list of subscribers to the building of Christ Church in 1812, the only family names listed as Episcopalians in 1795 were, -
Bassett, Bunnell, Chatfield, Hawkins, Davis, Perry and Wooster.
So it is evident that many of the subscribers were not Episco- palians, a fact which accounts for the proviso in the subscription form that "the chapel is to be used as a place of worship by every denomination of Christians known and allowed of in this state ---- --- when it is not occupied by the ministers of the episcopal church".
In other words, it was to be a community church.
43
THE MEN WHO UNDERTOOK TO BUILD CHRIST CHURCH
Who were the men who undertook, not only to finance the build- ing of a chapel, but to make it a larger and more elaborate build- ing than that of the parent church in Oxford Center ?
One of the most prominent was the Hon. David Tomlinson, son of Capt. Isaac and Sibyl Russel Tomlinson. He was born March 29, 1761.
Judge Willcoxson, in an historical address made in 1876 says of him, -
"David Tomlinson was in his day a distinguished citizen. He entered Quaker Farms an emigrant from Woodbury, and that when young I should think, from information given me, at the age of 18 or 20. He was then placed in charge of land owned by his father. He married a daughter (Lorena) of Jabez Bacon, of Woodbury.
He was a merchant, and as such an extensive operator. He began in a small way and enlarged as he advanced, as I was told, first occupying a room in the chamber of his dwelling as a sales- room. He was remarkably successful in his business. His busi- ness as a merchant was extensive beyond that known of any other for many miles radius; and not the less so were his operations as an agriculturist. His acres numbered 1500. Whatever the soil, he applied what was suitable to the peculiarity. Seldom did his land lie idle for lack of application. Possessed of a keen discernment, he at once saw as he set his eye upon the spot, what he could put there. The late Judge Phelps, of Woodbury, remarked of Mr. Tomlinson that he was the best specimen of a patroon there was in Connecticut.
He chartered vessels, fitted and put to sea. Once his vessel and cargo were taken by French Priveteers. Such and other losses embarrassed his estate. .
He was sent eleven times to the House of Representatives, and when he died, which occurred March 1822, aged 60 years, he was a member of the State Senate."
He was quite generally known as "Squire Tomlinson". It will be remembered that his great-grandfather, Jonas Tomlinson was one of the first to receive a grant of land at Paugasset, on Derby Neck. David was a brother of Russel of whom we have already spoken.
If David came to Quaker Farms when he was 18 or 20, as Judge Wilcoxson says, this may have been two or three years be- fore his marriage in 1784. His first child was born in 1785 and his fourteenth in 1809, so for some thirty years, until 1814, he probably journeyed on Sunday, with an ever increasing number of children, to church in Oxford,-a slow plodding journey of about five miles over Governor's Hill or Hog Back.
44
Five generations of Tomlinsons have served Christ Church, Quaker Farms, -
1. David Tomlinson m Lorena Bacon.
2. Charles Tomlinson m Esther Candee
3. Horace E. Tomlinson m Mary Candee
4. Wallace G. Tomlinson m Caroline Radcliffe (Horace Leslie Tomlinson m Idelle Beebe 5. (Louis Tomlinson m Pauline Olson
From 1903 to 1911, Henry S. Tomlinson was a vestryman, - also James T. Tomlinson
In 1947 and 1948 Louis Tomlinson was a vestryman.
In 1934 Horace Leslie Tomlinson became a vestryman, and in 1938 Junior Warden, and in 1950 Senior Warden.
THE TOMLINSON FAMILY.
Henry Tomlinson of Derbyshire, England located in Milford, Ct. 1652, - died 1681.
Jonas Tomlinson m Hannah- b in England, - lived on Great Hill, Derby (The Anson Davis place?)
Sergt. Isaac m Patience Gailor John m 1st. Elizabeth Wooster, m 2d 1712 Hannah
b 1687
1712
b 1686
m Merwin
d 1754
Capt. Isaac m Sybil Russel
John m Deborah Basset
Isaac m Mary Hawkins 1775
b 1723 1749-50
1748
d 1806
b 1723
b 1749
Capt. of Train band.
Lived on Rockhouse Hill
Isaac Russel m Agnes Cortelyou David m Lorena Bacon b 1752 b 1754
b 1761
.
now Barry Rd. in house now occupied by Pomeroy family
Burke Tomlinson. m Juliet Candee
Charles Tomlinson m Esther Candee Lorena Tomlinson m Samuel Meigs
Charles Augustus Meigs m 2d Bernice Riggs 1867
Horace E. Tomlinson m Mary Candee Mary Lorena Meigs Charles E. Meigs.
Wallace G. Tomlinson m Caroline Radcliffe
Horace Leslie Tomlinson m Idelle Beebe Louis Tomlinson m Pauline Olson.
THE HAWKINS FAMILY
Silas Hawkins was the son of Capt. Zachariah Hawkins and his second wife, Mary Tomlinson, whom he married June 30, 1743.
45
Silas m Polly Tomlinson Lived on Old Mill Rd.
Is said to have rebuilt and enlarged the Jonas Tomlinson house on Great Hill (Later the Anson Davis Place.)
d 1822
According to the Hawkin's Genealogy given in "Seymour Past and Present", Capt. Hawkins was born Feb. 8, 1717. Silas was born Sep. 22, 1756, so that at the time of the building of Christ Church, in 1812, he was 56 years old. As we have already noted, he, with Nathaniel Wooster, were the only two Quaker Farms men listed as belonging to the Oxford Episcopal Society in 1795. Throughout his life, he followed the occupation of farming. He married (1st), Sibyl Perry, and one of their sons was Ira Hawk- ins, one of the Signers of the documents relating to the formation of Christ Church.
Silas Hawkins married (2d) Sarah Minerve Loveland, and their Children were Silas and Charles.
The house of Silas, Sr. was at the north east corner of Quaker Farms Road and the Old Cemetery Road. It is now occupied by his great grand-daughter, Mrs. Flora Roberts Olson and her husband, Albert M. Olson.
Ira Hawkins, son of Silas Sr. and Sibyl Perry, married Sally Tomlinson. He inherited the house, and, dying without issue, he left the homestead to his half brother, Charles.
Charles was born March 30, 1828 on the old homestead. He was one of the leading and influential citizens of Oxford. His life was mainly devoted to agricultural pursuits. He married Louise Johnson. Their Daughter, Grace, was born Aug. 18, 1865 and their son, Robert Zachariah, May. 21, 1872.
Grace Hawkins married Frank Roberts, and lived in Silas Hawkins Sr.'s house. Their children were Mrs. Elsie Roberts Stanton, Mrs. Flora Roberts Olson, Clarence Roberts and Hubert Roberts. Mrs. Stanton's son Edward is now ( 1953) Parish Clerk, and Clarence Roberts is a Vestryman. The latter's daughters are active in the Church School. They are Mrs. Alice Roberts Boudreau and Mrs. Constance Roberts Bennett.
Mrs. Elsie Stanton and her son Edward, live in her great uncle Silas Hawkins Jr.'s house (just back of Mrs. Olson's house) which was built by Nathaniel Wooster.
Robert Zachariah Hawkins married (1st.) Jennie Shoemaker, and he and his daughter Sarah now live in the house on the west side of Quaker Farms road, just north of Seven Mile Brook. He married (2d), Ella Chandler, who was Parish Auditor for a num- ber of years.
Altogether, therefore, there have been five generations of Hawkins active in Christ Church affairs.
46
HAWKINS GENEALOGY.
1. Robert Hawkins came from England to New England and located in Milford about 1639. married. . They had son,
2. Joseph Hawkins, b. in Milford, m, (1st) Abigail Holbrook m. (2d) Mary Johnson of Fairfield, had son,
3. Joseph Hawkins, m Elizabeth Gunn of Milford, Conn. 1693, had son,
4. (Capt.) Zachariah Hawkins, m. (1st) Sarah Davis, July 6, 1737 m (2d) Mary Tomlinson, June 30, 1743, had son,
5. Silas Hawkins m (1st) Sibyl Perry, had son Ira Hawkins who married Sally Tomlinson, - no children.
m (2d) Sarah Minerve Loveland, had sons,-
6. Charles Hawkins m Louise Johnson Silas Hawkins, Jr.
b March 30, 1828 Their children were,
7. Grace Hawkins m Frank Roberts Robert Z. Hawkins m (1st) Jennie Shoemaker
Their children were, -
m (2d) Ella Chandler
Elsie Roberts Stanton Flora Roberts Olson Clarence Roberts
By first wife had daughter Sarah Hawkins
Hubert Roberts.
8. Elsie Roberts m Alanson P. Stanton
Their Children are, Robert Stanton m. Laura W. Blakeslee Lloyd Stanton m. Renee R. DuBois Edward P. Stanton
8. Flora Roberts m Albert M. Olson
8. Clarence Roberts m (1st) Carrie Pratt m, (2d) Sophie Kryskiewicz Their Children are, Alice Roberts m Gerald Boudreau Constance Roberts m Reginald Bennett.
CAPT. ZACHARIAH HAWKINS
Capt. Zachariah Hawkins' father, Joseph Hawkins lived on his father Joseph's homestead on Derby Neck, and Capt. Hawkins was the first of his family to settle in Quaker Farms. He was born Feb.1, 1717 and became a large land holder and slave owner. During Colonial days he was captain in his Majesty's Militia and was very prominent in public affairs, serving as selectman and in various other offices. By trade he was a shoemaker. We have already shown in the chapter, "During the Revolution" that Capt. Hawkins was accused of "being Toryfied", but that the selectmen of Castleton, where he had gone on business certified that "we have no suspicion of his being upon any Evil Design towards the United States".
47
He died in 1806, six years before the starting of Christ Church. His grave stone, in Hillside Cemetery bears the following in- scription, -
S.H. 1771
M.H.
Z.H. R.H.
1774
1806
1786
By this stone are deposited the remains of Captain Zach- ariah Hawkins, a worthy and respectable member of soci- ety, who in the 90th. year of his age died in faith and hope, June 27th, MDCCCVI. He had 14 children who all sur- vived him, 82 grandchildren
NATHANIEL WOOSTER
Another man prominent in the building of Christ Church, Quaker Farms was Nathaniel Wooster. According to the "History of the old Town of Derby", "He was perhaps the most decided and best informed Churchman among the contributors and gave his influence to the more churchly character of the building, as well as to its final consummation as a regularly constituted Episcopal Church".
He certainly should have been well grounded in church affairs, inasmuch as all his family had been active in St. Peter's Church, -
1779 Ebenezer Wooster, Parish Clerk of St. Peter's.
1769 Arthur Wooster, Church Warden of St. Peter's.
1792 John Wooster, Lay Delegate to General Con- vention in New York.
Judge N. J. Willcoxson in his Centennial Address in 1876 says that Capt. Wooster's house was (in 1876) that of Silas Hawkins. The Silas Hawkins here referred to was Silas Jr., son of Silas, Sr., and brother of Charles Hawkins. Now, in 1953, it is occu- pied by Mrs. Elsie Roberts Stanton, great niece of Silas Hawkins Jr. The house is located on the road running northeasterly from Quaker Farms Road up past the old burying ground now known as Hillside Cemetery.
Capt. Wooster was a noteworthy citizen, and by trade a black- smith. He died of a great age, little short of 90 years.
RUSSEL NICHOLS.
Russel Nichols, as we have already seen, was a member of the Building Committee and one of the largest contributors to the building fund of Christ Church in 1812. At the annual meeting held in 1817, he and Asahel Hurd were appointed a committee known as the "Chapel Committee". At the adjourned Annual
48
Meeting of Dec. 8, 1819, he and David Tomlinson were appointed delegates to the Diocesan Convention, which however they ap- parently did not attend, as their presence is not recorded in the 1820 Journal.
Russel was born in 1772, at the homestead on Five Mile Hill, Quaker Farms Road, (now occupied by Mr. Paul Belinsky), son of Sergeant Isaac Nichols and Abigail Lyman, daughter of the Rev. Jonathan Lyman, the first Congregational minister at Ox- ford.
Isaac Nichols was lay delegate from St. Peter's Oxford at the Diocesan Convention held May 5, 1796, The recording of his presence at the convention is the first mention of the parish of Oxford to be found in the Convention Journals. At the special convention held in Oct. 1796, at which the Rev. Mr. Bowen was elected Bishop (but subsequently declined to serve), J. Nichols is recorded as lay delegate from Oxford. The "J" may well have been a misprint and should have been "I", for "Isaac".
Russel's Grandfather was Francis Nichols, of whom the "Commemorative Biographical Record of New Haven County" says that "he was one of the pioneers of Oxford, and purchased his land there in 1743, the title passing to him from a Quaker, who had bought it from the Indians".
Russel Nichols married Nabby Riggs, daughter of John Riggs of Oxford. Their son, Benjamin Nichols became a devoted mem- ber of Christ Church, of whom we shall hear more later.
WELLS JUDSON
Comparatively little is on record about Wells Judson other than that he was treasurer of the building fund. He was reported to have been a leading citizen of Quaker Farms. He built and lived in the house on the east side of Quaker Farms Road just south of the Old Mill Road, (now known as Barry Road). In more recent times it was the home of Miss Catherine Palmer, who is said to have made some changes to it. It is now owned by Mrs. Kenyon Congdon.
He married Ruth Wilcox, who was born in Southbury, and their daughter, Eliza Judson married George Tomlinson and had a son George A. Tomlinson, who married Russel Nichols grand- daughter Nancy Nichols (daughter of Benjamin and Minerva Nichols).
Wells Judson and his wife are both buried in Hillside Ceme- tery in Quaker Farms. The inscriptions on their graves read as follows, -
49
"Sacred to the memory of Mr. Wells Judson, who depart- ed this life June 18, 1827, in the 73d year of his age. A man of strict integrity, which will ever make his name revered by his friends."
"Sacred to the memory of Ruth Judson, died Sept, 11, AE 64
As a wife and parent she was kind, affectionate and exem- plary and died in hope of glorious immortality."
They were apparently strongly religious people.
50
CHAPTER VII. THE CHURCH BUILDING.
START OF THE BUILDING OF CHRIST CHURCH
The History of the old Town of Derby says "The following record indicates the commencement of work for the erection of the (Christ) church edifice, -
Oct. 11, 1811
"The Quaker s Farm people have begun to build a church and I, Cyrus Perry, drew the first stick of timber 64 feet long".
Inasmuch as the project of building a chapel was not approved until February 1812, the quoted record is incorrect, - either Mr. Perry dated his memorandum incorrectly, or more likely, it was quoted incorrectly in the Derby history. Mr. Douglas says, in his historical address,- "It is said that William DeForest related in his old age that when he went to Quaker's Farm as an appren- tice to the firm of Tomlinson and Bassett in October 1812, the carpenters were hewing timber for the new church."
There appears to be no doubt, therefore that work started in October 1812.
Mr. Douglas continues, - "The building committee were David Tomlinson, Nathaniel Wooster and Wells Judson, the latter being Treasurer. The principal contributers and those most active in personal influence were members of the congregation of St. Peter's, the most liberal of these being David Tomlinson and his wife Laura, (Lorena), Wells Judson, Nathaniel Wooster and Rus- sel Nichols. Many others, however, contributed according to their ability and the need."
The subscriptions were due Jan. 1, 1813 and it is presumed that the church was completed in that year. It was not conse- crated until 1817, as will be related later.
THE "RAISING"
The erection of a building of the size of Christ Church was no small undertaking. As is well known, all houses, barns and churches, until well on into the nineteenth century, were of "framed" construction, each wall frame being put together flat on the ground, and them raised into position.
Each "bent", as it was called, consisted of the floor sill, the middle beam or "girt", and the top beam or "plate", and the
51
--
-
Christ Church, Quaker Farms
52
posts, all carefully morticed and tenoned together. The bent lay flat on the ground, the sill resting on the stone foundation of the building, and the plate on a timber.
Picked men stood at the foot of the posts, armed with crow- bars and broadaxes to keep these uprights in their places, and on the steadiness of these men depended the safety of those who raised the bent, for those who raise a building stand directly un- der the timber they are lifting, and bents have sometimes fallen, with fatal results.
At a given signal, men raised the plate from the timber on which it lay, and others placed short pieces of scantling under it. A second lift carried it as high as the men's heads, where again it rested on pieces of scantling.
The next lift was made with pike poles. Short poles were first got under the bent, lifting it so that it stood at an angle of some fifteen degrees with the plane of the building, which carried all but the posts beyond the reach of hands.
The next, and final lift was made with the long pike poles, un- til the bent stood perpendicular.
It must have been a big event when the "Chapel" in Quaker Farms was raised, and no doubt people came from Oxford, Southbury, Woodbury and Humphreysville to watch the proceed- ing.
THE BUILDING.
The building is much larger than that of the parent church, St. Peter's in Oxford, and one wonders why. There were four possible reasons, -
1. It was to be a community church, - there being no other in this section.
2. It is said there were many houses in Quaker Farms which were destroyed later.
3. Like most New England churches, the pews are thought to have been originally of the old "box" type, one to a family. These covered more space than the present type of pew, which, when first introduced were known as "slips".
4. The possible ambition of some of the leading spirits to have as fine a church as the neighboring town of Wood- bury, whose St. Paul's church had been completed in 1785. This ambition may have been spurred on by the presence of Mr. George Boult, of Southford, who ob- viously was an architecht of great ability.
53
GOT KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
-
Christ Church, Quaker Farms Interior in 1953
54
THE ARCHITECT AND BUILDER.
There is a tradition that the church was built from plans drawn by the famous English architect, Sir Christopher Wren, - in fact it was rumored at one time that there were "two or three sets of plans" in existence. But Wren worked in London around 1670 and died in 1723 and Christ Church, Quaker Farms was not built until 89 years after his death. Also, the "History of the Old Town of Derby" by Samuel Orcutt and Ambrose Beardsley, M.D., in an account of Christ Church given in the Appendix thereto, states,- "The architect and builder of the church was George Boult of Southford, a gentlemen of extraordinary skill in the art of building". The history was published in 1880, only 68 years after the building of Christ Church, so it may have been possible that Dr. Beardsley, as a young man, knew Mr. Boult personally when the latter was an elderly man. The wording of Dr. Beardsley's account is so positive that it seems likely that Mr. Boult was indeed the architect and builder. Nevertheless, the building is of the Wren type, and it is entirely possible that Boult had a book of plates of designs by Wren, and developed his own plans from one of these designs. That was customary at that period, and it does not mean that Boult followed Wren slav- ishly, for the building gives evidence that Boult was a fine archi- tect in his own right.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.