USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Bridgeport > A history of the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut > Part 19
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Adjoining this church on the west is a large, imposing structure, built of granite from Plymouth, Conn., which is the home of the Sisters of Mercy and an academy for young ladies. It was completed in 1881 and cost about the same as the church.
Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus was erected in the year 1884, on Myrtle avenue near Prospect street. It is built of brick with granite trimmings, in the equilateral Gothic style, large and commodious, the ceiling being vaulted and groined. Rev. Dennis J. Cremin is the pastor.
St. Mary's Church-Catholic-of Bridgeport, is loca- ted on the corner of Pembroke and Steuben streets, and is a fine brick edifice with stone basement. This church was commenced as an out mission of St. James's, now St. August-
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ine's, and was a frame building located on the corner of Cres- cent avenue and Church street, erected in 1854. The first missionaries to this church were the Reverends M. O'Neil, P. Lamb and Dr. Wallace. The first pastor was the Rev. Peter A. Smith, installed in April, 1857, who built the par- sonage house and continued pastor until February 10, 1862. He afterwards died while pastor at Norwalk, Conn. He was succeeded by the Rev. Francis J. Lenihan, who continued pastor until November 1, 1866, when he was transferred to Woonsocket, R. I., where he died. He was followed by the Rev. Richard O. Gorman, who served until October 6, 1867, and was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Dea, who continued to his death, July 23, 1873. These all ministered in the old church. The Rev. John F. Rogers was transferred from Newtown, Conn,, where he was pastor five years, to this parish the Sunday following the decease of Father Dea. He was graduated at Mount St. Mary's College, at Emmetsburgh, Md. He commenced the new church edifice in June, 1874, located on the corner of Pembroke and Steuben streets, the corner-stone was laid May 16, 1875, and the house was dedi- cated October 14, 1877, by the late Bishop Galbury. The edifice is built in the Romanesque style, the basement of stone and the superstructure of brick, 74 feet front on Pem- broke street and 154 feet in length, with a spire 187 feet in height. Its principal ornament inside is a Roman altar 35 feet in height. The basement is 14 feet in height, completed and occupied as a Sunday school room and for the meeting of various societies connected with the church. The parson- age was built in 1881, adjoining the church on the south, the lot extending to Sherman street.
The old church edifice has been remodeled into a paro- chial school building, the school being taught by the Sisters of Mercy, residing in the old parsonage adjoining. Mr. Rog- ers was the first to introduce the Sisters into Bridgeport. This parish, including West Stratford, now contains about three thousand souls.
The assistant pastor is the Rev. J. C. O'Connell, and the trustees are Patrick Cullen, John Flood; the committee, Martin Lee, John B. Sullivan, Martin Quinlan, Patrick Gil-
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martin, Thomas McGovern ; organist, Sister Mary Burk- mans; the superintendents of the Sunday school are the Sisters of Mercy.
The German Catholic Church was organized in De- cember, 1874, and for a time held religious services in a hall in Wheeler's Building, on Main street. From this they re- moved to the building No. 449 Main street. The present house of worship, on Madison avenue near Washington, was commenced in October, IS78, and completed in April of the following year, at a cost, including the lot, of eight thousand dollars. The Rev. Joseph A. Schaele, of New Haven, has been the pastor from the organization of the church to the present time. There were at first twenty-five families in the congregation, which now numbers seventy-five families, or about three hundred persons. The Sunday school has one hundred members. Mass is celebrated and a sermon preached every Sunday morning, the pastor returning to New Haven at the conclusion of the services.
The Park Street Congregational Church is located on the corner of Park and Barnum streets, fronting Washing- ton Park. A movement toward the organization of a Congre- gational church in that part of the city of Bridgeport lying east of the Pequonnock river, was made in November, 1867. The first meeting to consider the subject was held on the 22d of that month at the house of Mr. W. E. Smith, corner of Barnum and William streets. The Rev. B. B. Beardsley, of the First Congregational Church, and Mr. Thomas Lord, of the Second, were present and offered to hire the Bethesda Mission Chapel-now the East Washington avenue Baptist Church-for at least one year, for the use of a Congregational church, should one be formed, and in view of this proposition it was thought advisable to occupy the chapel, and the Rev. Joel H. Linsley, D.D., of Greenwich, was engaged to preach on four Sundays.
The first public services were held November 24, IS67, and on the 16th of December following a meeting was held in the basement of the Bethesda Chapel, at which it was " Re- solved, as the sense of this meeting, that it is expedient to
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take measures for organizing a Congregational church in East Bridgeport." A council was accordingly called on the 15th of January, 1868, to devise respecting the matter, and if deemed expedient, to assist in the organization of a church. The council when convened voted that it was desirable to form a church, and proceeded in the formal services to that end. The church thus constituted, consisted of thirty-nine members, of whom twenty-three had been dismissed from the First Church, five from the Second Church, five from the church in Newington, three from the church in Westport, two from the church in Monroe, and one from the Chapel street church of New Haven.
On the 19th of March, 1868, Andrew L. Winton and James P. Bishop were elected deacons of the new church, and on the first day of July Mr. John G. Davenport, of Wilton, having supplied the pulpit for three months, and received a unanimous call to its pastorate, was ordained and installed pastor of the church and society.
A site for a house of worship having been purchased on the corner of Park and Barnum streets, the corner-stone of a church edifice was laid November 1, IS70. Services were held in the Bethesda Chapel until the Ist of July, 1871, when the basement of the new edifice was occupied, and on the 17th of October the church, having cost about $25,000, was dedi- cated to the worship of Almighty God.
Until the close of the year 1871 the church was under the fostering care of the Connecticut Home Missionary Society, when it became self-supporting.20
The following have served as deacons, each retiring at the end of four, five or six years, the present rule being that each term expires at the end of four years, any one being eligible to reelection after an interval of one year: Andrew L. Winton, James P. Bishop, Charles M. Minor, David Wooster, Harmon Lane, James P. Bishop, Charles M. Minor, Frederick W. Storrs, David Wooster, James P. Bishop, Charles M. Minor.
The success of this church has been very marked and
20 Historical sketch in the Church Manual, printed in 1881,
Ecclesiastical History. 209
continuous to the present time. Mr. John G. Davenport was ordained its pastor July 1, 1868, and labored with much suc- cess until the summer of ISSI, when he was dismissed to accept a call to the Second Congregational Church of Water- bury, where he was installed November 9, ISSI. His suc- cessor was the Rev. George S. Thrall, who was installed in October, ISSI, and after nearly three years of very acceptable service was dismissed, at his own request, on account of ill health.
The Rev. Frederick E. Hopkins, the present pastor, was installed March 26, ISS4, and the prosperity of the church is continued. During the summer of ISS5 an addition was made to the church edifice and considerable changes in the audience room, at a cost of about $2,500.
Olivet Church (Congregational) .- About the year 1866 a mission Sunday school was commenced by members of the First Congregational Church and others in the northern part of the city. The school met at first in the upper story of No. 114 North Washington avenue, afterwards at Olivet Hall, upon the corner of Grand street. After some time the school developed into the church now known as Olivet Congrega- tional Church, which was formally organized by a council convened for the purpose, November 16, 1870, and on Decem- ber 14, 1870, the Rev. DeForest B. Dodge was ordained pas- tor, and he resigned October 11, 1871, and letters of dismis- sion were granted to forty-nine members of this church to join him in forming a new ecclesiastical body. His success- ors as the pastors of Olivet Church have been : the Rev. S. Hopkins Emory, April, 1872; the Rev. Allen Clark, Septem- ber, 1874; the Rev. John S. Wilson, August, 1879. The building now used by the society, on the corner of Main street and North avenue, was completed and occupied for worship December 24, 1876. It cost, including the site, about $3,500. The Rev. S. D. Gaylord became pastor of this church November 8, 1882, and died in office December 31, 1884. Mr. Edwin R. Holden, of Yale Divinity School, commenced the supply. of the pulpit in March, 1885, and was ordained pastor June 9, 1885. This church has received assistance largely from the First Congregational Church and
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to some extent from other churches, for many years. It is under the care and aid of the Connecticut Home Missionary Society.
The Colorado Street Chapel is located in the western part of the city. About the end of February, 1884, a mission Sunday school was commenced under the auspices of the First Presbyterian Church, which at the end of the year they relinquished, and in May, 1885, it became a branch of the Sunday school of the First Congregational Church, under the charge of an assistant superintendent. The school met at first in an unoccupied store on State street, then in a cottage on Howard street, but the Congregational church decided at once to build a chapel, and land on Colorado street was purchased on the 11th of May, and a building erected. This was done by the Rev. C. R. Palmer and Col. Charles H. Russell, acting for the standing committee of the church. This chapel was completed September 8th and dedicated Sep- tember 13th, with appropriate services. It was occupied by the Sabbath school from that date. As soon as a gas pipe had been laid through the street, so that the building could be lighted, services were held on Sabbath evenings, and these have continued until the present time. Until January 1, 1886, the pulpit was supplied by various gentlemen, under the direction of Mr. Palmer. From that date Mr. Robert W. Sharp became the stated supply. He is a member of the senior class in Yale Divinity School, to graduate in May next. The chapel has been conveyed by the builders to the First Congregational Church (an incorporated body), in the expect- ation that it will be conveyed ultimately to a religious society at the west end. It is valued at $4,200, with its contents.
Mr. James L. Harlem was the original superintendent of the school, when it was in Presbyterian hands, and has been continued in office by the Congregationalists. The success of it is largely due to the energy and enthusiasm which he has displayed from the beginning.
The First Baptist Church in Bridgeport was consti- tuted September 20, 1837, with thirty-nine members. At that time the population of the city was about three thousand, and
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Ecclesiastical History.
the only Baptist church then within ten miles was at Strat- field, three miles distant, which was under the pastoral care of the Rev. James H. Linsley, who resided in Stratford. There were but three or four Baptists residing in the city, one of whom, Miss Hannah Nichols, a devoted and active member of the Stratfield church, about the year 1835 pro- posed the purchase of land upon which to erect a church in the future. There were three brothers, named Whitney, also members of the Stratfield church, residing about a mile from the city, who had frequently consulted together, and with Miss Nichols, the Rev. Mr. Linsley, and others, upon the practicability of establishing a Baptist church in Bridgeport. They were all waiting for a providential opening to enable them to accomplish that object, when the way was opened, sooner than they expected, by the offer of the Episcopal society to sell their church edifice, on the corner of State and Broad streets, for $3,650. Mr. Linsley circulated the subscrip- tion paper until he secured $3,000, and paid it to the Episco- pal society, and a deed was received August 8, 1835. During this time a meeting was called and on July 24, 1835, a Baptist society was organized, composed of six members, namely : Benjamin Wakeman, Raymond, Roswell, Bennett Whitney, and two other persons whose names are not known.
It was expected that the Rev. Mr. Linsley would accept the pastorate, but failing health compelled him to relinquish preaching, and the services of the Rev. Wm. W. Evarts, then a student in Madison University, were temporarily secured. Public worship commenced in the church April 23, 1837, but five weeks afterwards Mr. Evarts returned to his studies, and the church being unable to procure a permanent pastor, public worship was discontinued until the latter part of 1838, when the Rev. James W. Eaton, of Boston, became the first settled minister of the church, and thus continued for two and a half years, laboring faithfully and zealously until March 26, 1840, when he removed to Springfield, Mass. During his ministry the church prospered and increased its membership from 39 to 106. On the 18th of September, 1840, a unanimous call was extended to the Rev. Daniel Harwington, of Fort Ann, N. Y., and he became pastor of the church on the 3d of
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the following month. He resigned October 16, 1842, the church having then 123 members. The next pastor was the Rev. William Smith, of Camden, N. J., who was settled here Nov. 21, 1842, and remained until July 8, 1845, during which time the church suffered severely by many of its members embracing the teachings of Millerism ; but toward the close of his ministry many new converts were added to the church, through the labors of the Rev. Jacob Knapp.
The church was without a pastor from that time until January 3, IS46. when the Rev. William Reid was settled, after having previously occupied the pulpit for two or three months, and he continued in the pastorate for more than eight years, closing his labors May 28, 1854. At this time the num- ber of members was reported to be 225. During this ministry the house of worship was repaired and the church debt liqui- dated, but towards the close of his service a division arose among its members which resulted, afterwards, in the forma- tion of the second Baptist church of Bridgeport. After the resignation of Mr. Reid, June 1, 1854, the church extended a call to the Rev. J. R. Storrs, of New York, who accepted it, but after supplying the pulpit a few Sundays, resigned. A call was then extended to the Rev. W. C. Richards, who accepted, but resigned without entering upon his pastoral duties. The Rev. A. G. Palmer, D.D., then became the pastor of the church, and the formation of the second Baptist church, which now took place, greatly enfeebled the church and discouraged the new pastor. He commenced his pastor- ate October, 1855, and resigned September 27, 1857. The Rev. J. L. Hodge, D.D., succeeded him and labored for the church three years, commencing in November, 1857. During his ministry a new house of worship, commodious and sub- stantial, was erected, and the church was placed in a better position for prosperity. Dr. Hodge labored earnestly, not only in his regular ministrations, but to bring about a union of the two churches, and to complete the new edifice. After the removal of the Rev. Dr. Hodge the church extended a call to the Rev. A. McGregor Hopper, D.D., who had just closed his labors with the Baptist church at Auburn, N. Y. He accepted the call and commenced his pastorate in March,
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1861. Soon after the settlement of Dr. Hopper the second church disbanded and most of its members returned to the first church. Through the efforts of Dr. Hopper the debt remaining on the new edifice was paid, and he found much success in his work. The membership was increased to 331. Dr. Hopper resigned September 1, 1877, the Rev. M. H. Pogson became the settled pastor January 30, 1878, and labored with much success until January 2, 1884, when he resigned to accept a pastorate in New York City. The Rev. Wm. V. Garner was settled as pastor in this church June 4, 1884, being the present minister. The deacons of this church are : W. E. Payson, M. E. Morris, Albert Wisner and Louis Skinner. The present membership is 364.
The Washington Avenue Baptist Church was or- ganized January 30, 1874, with forty-seven members, the Rev. C. W. Ray being the first pastor. The price paid for the church edifice and lot, which fronts on Washington Park, and originally belonged to the Bethesda Mission Sunday school, was $10,000, and about $3,500 additional, were expended in repairs and improvements. The Rev. Charles Coleman was pastor some years, but resigned in 1885. The Rev. W. M. Ingersoll is the present pastor, and the deacons are: P. J. Black, C. W. Scarrit, J. H. Gunn, and C. W. Beers.
St. Paul's Church (Episcopal), was organized June 4, 1858, at the house of William H. Noble, on Stratford avenue, and the Rev. G. S. Coit, D.D., of St. John's Church, was chosen rector. The Sunday school met, at first, in the coal office of D. W. Thompson, near the east end of the Centre Bridge, afterwards in rooms over a store upon the corner of Crescent avenue and East Main street. The Rev. N. S. Richardson, D.D., was the first settled pastor of this parish, his ministry beginning in January, 1868. The corner-stone of St. Paul's Church, a handsome stone building upon Kos- suth street, fronting Washington Park, was laid by Bishop Williams, October 6, 1868; the edifice was dedicated and occupied for worship July 29, 1869, but not consecrated until May 18, 1880. It cost about thirty thousand dollars. Dr. Richardson, in addition to parochial duties, was editor of the
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"Church Guardian," a newspaper published in New York City, the Rev. George S. Pine assisting him in the care of the parish. The other pastors have been Rev. M. Clark, Rev. James O. Drum, and the incumbent, Rev. Mildridge Walker.
The Church of the Redeemer (Universalist), was or- ganized in 1850, and the brown stone edifice on Fairfield avenue, near Broad street, originally known as the Church of our Saviour, but now called the Church of the Redeemer, was dedicated near the close of the following year. The Rev. Olympia Brown-afterwards Mrs. Olympia Brown Willis- was pastor of this church from 1869 to 1875. The Rev. John Lyon,21 the present pastor, was settled here December 3, 1876. The cost of the house of worship, including the site, was $34,000. The trustees of this church are: P. T. Barnum, James Staples, Jerome Orcutt, G. W. Longstaff, Benjamin Fletcher, Albert R. Lacey.
Public Schools.
The inhabitants in that part of Fairfield which afterwards became Pequonnock had established a school as early as 1678, and petitioned the court to release them from paying school rates at Fairfield village. At that time the inhabitants in the Stratford part of Pequonnock sent their children to the Pembroke school at Old Mill, and thus the schools con- tinued until the Stratfield society was established in 1691, when it took charge of all school interests within its bounda- ries." A school house, probably the second, was built in 1703, near the junction of the present Park avenue and Pequonnock street. Among the first teachers of those times was William Rogers, whose agreement with the committee, Samuel Hubbell and Benjamin Fayerweather, made in 1710, is still extant. A noted master after this, for many years, was John Wheeler, whose salary in 1736 for teaching a sum- mer school was £63. The second school was formed in 1738, and the house built near the present Toilsome Hill school house in Fairfield. In 1766 the Stratfield society was divided into three districts, called the North, Middle and South.
91 See biographical sketch of Mr. Lyon.
?? See page 8 of :his book.
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Public Schools.
The schools continued to be managed by the committees chosen annually by the parish until 1796, when a school society was formed in accordance with a law enacted the previous year, which provided that the interest on moneys received from the sale of the lands of the " Western Reserve should be paid school societies respectively." These lands were sold for $1,200,000, which formed the foundation of the present State school fund. This society continued until 1856, when, with the other school societies in the State, it was abolished and its property and obligations transferred to the town. In 1801 there were five districts, called Bridgeport, Old South, Island Brook, Toilsome and North.
In 1841 authority was given by the State to the Stratfield society to· maintain a school exclusively for colored children. Such a school was organized by the Bridgeport district, which occupied a building on Gregory street until 1871, when the school was transferred to a room in a wing of the Prospect street school house, which had recently been built. This was continued as a separate ungraded school until the fall of 1876, when the pupils were placed in their proper grades in the different rooms of the same building.
In 1858 the Bridgeport district, after an exciting discus- sion, voted to abolish the bills for tuition, or " rate bills," as they were called. This was ten years before the law was enacted by the State making it compulsory upon all the towns to support free schools.
When Bridgeport was incorporated as a town in 1821 there were two school districts in the territory east of the Pequonnock river. The northern one, called Pembroke, was established in 1717,23 the house being erected some years later on Old Mill Green, where one still stands, and is in use. The other district was called New Pasture Point, and built its school house in 1796. In 1859 it erected the brick building on Nichols street, which is still in use.
In 1870 the Black Rock district was transferred from Fairfield to Bridgeport.
Some of the above districts were divided and new ones
23 See page 280 of History of Stratford.
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History of Bridgeport.
formed at different times, so that in 1876 there were eleven school districts in the town of Bridgeport.
During the year 1875 Mr. Henry T. Shelton published several articles in the "Standard" in favor of consolidating the public schools. These articles awakened a general inter- est in the subject, which was discussed and so agitated that, although there was great opposition to the measure. yet the town of Bridgeport, at its annual meeting April 3, 1876, voted to consolidate its eleven district schools under one govern- ment, by a majority of 172 votes in a total of 3,998 cast ; and on Tuesday, April 11, 1876, the following named persons were elected a school committee: Andrew Burke, James Staples, Frederick W. Zingsen, Henry T. Shelton, James C. Loomis, Daniel H. Sterling, Augustus H. Abernethy, Edward Sterling, George W. Bacon, Joseph D. Alvord, David Gi- nand, Julius S. Hanover. These persons met and organized under the name and title of the " Board of Education." They divided themselves into three classes, the terms of office of the first four to expire in one year, the next four in two years, and the next four in four years. They elected James C. Loomis, president ; Daniel H. Sterling, vice-president ; Hen- ry T. Shelton, secretary, and subsequently, Henry M. Har- rington, superintendent. In the practical working of the new system it was found at the end of the first year that the money expended was more than $10,000 less per year than under the old system.
On the first day of March, 1877, the first death of a mem- ber of the board occurred, as seen by the following record :
" As co-laborer with the late Hon. Daniel H. Sterling, vice-president and chairman of the finance committee of the Board of Education, we desire to testify to his earnest and thorough work with us in the advancement of public schools, 'and herewith express our high appreciation of his valuable counsel and advice from our organization until the present time." It is also recorded that on the 11th day of July, 1877, the resignation of Joseph D. Alvord, on account of ill health, was accepted with sincere regrets.
During the first year of consolidation the establishment of the public high school was another of the important ad-
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Public Schools.
vances made. The adjustment of the financial interests be- tween the districts and the town was the most difficult part of the work. This was done by placing all the accounts in the hands of a committee consisting of R. B. Lacey, M. B. Beardsley, and James King, as auditors, whose exhaustive report became the basis of a full and satisfactory settlement.
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